The Kumo Sharingan
by Garelor
Summary: Shisui cares for and trains Naruto. Rest inside, cause I'm only allowed so many characters for the summary. Smarter, stronger, sharingan, and kumo Naruto. Nice kumo. Bad council, konoha, Sasuke, and Sakura. Naruto x younger Mabui pairing.
1. Chapter 1

The Kumo Sharingan

When Shisui Uchiha finds Naruto broken and alone, he cares for and trains Naruto. On the night of his death, Shisui gives his eye to Naruto instead of Itachi, trusting that Naruto will be able to help protect his loved ones with it. The village council however decided that Naruto should be executed for the false accusation of killing Shisui for the eye. Naruto escapes, and ends up in one of the last places any leaf shinobi would expect. How will having the Sharingan and being the Jinchuuriki of the nine tails go, especially when you're a ninja for Kumo? Smarter, stronger, sharingan, and Kumo Naruto. Nice Kumo. Bad council, village, Sasuke, and Sakura. Naruto x younger Mabui pairing. The picture for the story is not mine, I found it off the internet. Please use this as a basis for what the Naruto in my story looks like.

 *****START*****

The sky was just setting on the village of Konoha as Shisui started making his way back to the Uchiha compound. He and Itachi had just finished talking by their favorite waterfall, discussing the latest details of the Uchiha coup. They had been lucky enough for the clan to have to postpone the coup due to a lacking number of Uchiha in the shinobi force. Fugaku Uchiha decided to wait for a couple years until there were more Uchiha shinobi capable of such a feat before the would act. No doubt he was counting on his second son Sasuke to be a prodigy like his brother, in order for him to also be able to effectively participate in the Coup. Itachi was going to report what had happened to the Hokage and elders, and Shisui was heading over to Uchiha compound. Fugaku would most likely try to get information on Itachi from him, but Shisui would just give him the usual, 'He's just under a lot of stress' spiel.

He was in the market district of the village when he heard cries for help. Immediately his shinobi instincts kicked, and he darted off towards the origins of the sound. He arrived at the outskirts of the red light district, where he was met with the horrible sight of what could pass as a bloody corpse of a child. The child had blond hair, but that was all that he could gather of his natural appearance. His face had two black eyes, with multiple other bruises. His shirt was torn to shreds by the side of him, and carved onto his chest were the characters for demon. Under his bloodied chest in black ink was the only part of his body that wasn't at the least bruised. An intricate seal, spiraling in the center of it was drawn on his stomach. Next to the child's head and blood dried hair was a pair of green goggles, the left lens being cracked.

But perhaps the most gruesome sight was his right arm, or more so the fact that it wasn't there. The entire arm, all the way up to just a little bit under his shoulder, was lying a few feet from him, completely black and charred, and bent in ways that it should not be. The leftover stump of what was once the child's left arm was bleeding profusely, soaking up into the child's beige shorts and orange shirt.

"Hello?" he whimpered, afraid that the villagers had come back to finish the job. Part of him wished they would, just to end his suffering. He knew that he wouldn't die from this, no matter what the villagers did to him, even when they were actually trying to kill him, he never died.

Shisui picked him up slowly, making sure that he wasn't put in any more pain than he already was. As soon as he was confident that the child was comfortable, he immediately began running towards the hospital. Going by the rooftops, he arrived in a matter of seconds. He rushed up towards the desk.

"This child needs a doctor immediately! He's been severely beaten, his chest has been carved on, and his right arm has been severed!"

The nurse took a look at the child in his arms, and her face softened. "Oh god, it's Naruto again. Come with me, quickly now."

Shisui followed her as they swiftly walked through the hospital and into an empty room. He laid the child, Naruto she said it was, on the medical bed. "I'll be back with the best doctor I can get. Please stay with him. Sometimes, the civilians try to break in to continue their little beating sessions."

She arrived back soon enough with a team of doctors, and Shisui was asked to wait outside of the room. He sent a clone to inform the Hokage what he had stumbled upon, then waited. The Hokage had arrived soon after, but hadn't said anything to him. He just looked completely distraught, and stared at the floor in silence. A couple of hours had passed before the two of them were brought back into the room.

With Naruto cleaned up, he was able to get a better look at him. He had wild, untamed blond hair (please refer to the picture for this story, which again, is not mine.) with three thin, faint lines on either side of his face. When his eyes were opened, they revealed a stunning pair of shining lavender eyes. His chest was bandaged up, still leaving the markings on his stomach visible. His face was already showing signs of healing, as most of the bruises had either disappeared or turned to a fainter color. And sadly, his right shoulder was bandaged, the missing of his arm very noticeable.

"How are you feeling Naruto?" the Hokage asked, causing a look of pain to flicker across Naruto's face. He didn't respond, instead choosing to looked down, causing a few held back tears to fall from his eyes.

"I can't be a shinobi, Jiji. How am I supposed to become a great shinobi when I can't even perform handsigns? I'll be lucky if I can learn to even properly hold chopsticks with my left hand!" Naruto exclaimed, his tears streaming down his eyes to his chin. His left hand was shaking in a fist, his whole body soon also trembling with it.

Shisui and Hiruzen both looked down as well, sad at Naruto's situation. Both knew that it wasn't their fault, but Hiruzen kept thinking that maybe if he had been more protective of Naruto, and had the power to be more strict with the civilians, than Naruto would be able to be a shinobi like he dreamed. He already had too much to deal with, and now with an arm missing, not only would it be immensely more difficult to become a shinobi, but no doubt the children and adults of the village would take advantage of his new disability. He was sad to say that the will of fire had diminished. The villagers and shinobi of Konoha had become caught in the cycle of hatred that the world was victim to.

And Shisui knew as well that it was not his fault, but he kept thinking that maybe if he had been there sooner, he could have defended Naruto. He could have stopped and reported the villagers and shinobi who had done this to a defenseless child. He swore to himself there that he would do everything in his power to fix this, and to make this child a shinobi.

"Hey, who are you?" Naruto said to Shisui, his lavender eyes still brimming with tears, red and puffy from his crying. Shisui stayed silent for a moment, thinking if he should give it to him. After a while, he decided. "I'm Shisui Uchiha. I'm the one who brought you here."

A brief pause was made, before Shisui continued. "And I'm the one who's going to be taking care of you from here on out." he said, causing everyone's eyes to widen. Naruto's in particular looked like his eyes would pop out of their sockets. A faint smile came onto his face, before it disappeared and was replaced by another frown. "Are you going to be like the others? Are you saying that, just so that you can treat me like garbage? Just so that you can beat and torture me like everyone else? Is that why you saved me, just so you can have a go!"

By this point, Naruto was crying again, and his left hand was clenched so hard it was drawing blood. Hiruzen felt a stab of pain at the words. Most didn't know, but there had been a couple of times when some people had claimed that they were going to take care of or adopt Naruto, and he was sad to admit that most of those times had been just so that they could hurt Naruto. He would have done something about it, but the laws made it so that if someone wanted to adopt, he couldn't stop them until after they had done something to the child. Which by then would be too late.

But through the stab of pain he felt, there was a light of hope he saw. If Shisui was made Naruto's guardian, if he were the one to take care of him, and train him, not only would Naruto have a magnificent role model and caretaker, but if he could adapt to Naruto's new… situation, he would be able to properly defend himself. With Shisui's help, Naruto might be able to continue attending the academy. He could still become a shinobi.

"I promise Naruto, I promise on my position of a shinobi, that I will never hurt you. I promise that I will train you to the best of my ability, and then to train you even more. I promise to care for you, and to heal you, and to be the best guardian I can be for you. I promise to do everything in my power to replace your arm. I promise to do all these things and more. I give you my word.

"And I never go back on my word… That's my nindo."

***One week later***

Shisui and Naruto both walked out of the hospital, Naruto having finally been released. They had said a couple of goodbye's to the doctors and nurses there, who after Naruto had been dropped there for the millionth time, had come to accept Naruto for who he was, and enjoy the optimistic atmosphere he brought around with him. Shisui had taken the week off of missions to get to know Naruto before he took him to live with him. He had learned that Naruto had a strict diet of ramen and more ramen, which he would make sure to change, and was known for causing notorious pranks and escaping. He had even told Shisui of the time when he had snuck into the ANBU headquarters and marked all of the ANBU masked with various drawings or profanity, which Shisui had gotten confirmed by Itachi. While this was slightly upsetting, Itachi did have to admit that it meant Naruto had a talent for stealth.

Naruto had learned a fair bit about Shisui as well. Shisui had been in the ANBU Black Ops, but quit after a while to continue being an ordinary jonin, stating that ANBU wasn't for him. He had graduated at a very early age, which made Naruto upset because it meant that he was far behind being the best shinobi. Shisui's favorite food was sushi, favorite color was green, favorite pastime was spar with his good friend and cousin Itachi, and his dream was to hopefully bring peace to the world.

Shisui had also taken the liberty of getting Naruto new clothes. Naruto was currently dressed in black pants and shinobi sandals with a gray long sleeved shirt. On the shoulders of the shirt was the emblem for the Konoha Military Police Force, and on the back was the Uchiha fan. Shisui knew that he would get a good scolding for giving a non Uchiha a shirt with their crest, but it was something that Shisui had free access to. But the way Naruto's face lit up when he had received it would make the scolding worth it. Naruto had explained that it was just a way of showing that he was part of a real family, even if the family was only Shisui.

As they made their way to the Uchiha compound, Naruto looked up to Shisui. "Hey Shisui, can I ask you a question?"

Shisui looked down to see the blonds curious face. "Sure Naruto, what's your question?"

"How are we going to train? You know, with me only having one arm and everything." he said a bit jokingly, though Shisui could see the faint look of pain that Naruto's face held. "And how are we going to get me a new arm? That seems pretty impossible."

Shisui looked back in front of him. "Well the first thing we have to do is make sure you can use your left hand. So we'll start with basic exercises like writing and drawing, then move onto more shinobi related things, like throwing shuriken. Once we get the hang of all those, then I'll teach you to use one handed seals to perform jutsu. It'll be very difficult, but with enough training, I believe you can do it.

"To be completely honest Naruto, I don't know how to get your arm back. The only person who might have even been capable of growing one back was the first Hokage. And the only medic nin who could even be the slightest bit up to the challenge would be lady Tsunade, and she's been missing for quite some time. But I'll find a way, and if there's not a way, I'll make one."

Naruto was once again stunned by Shisui's resolve to help him. None had ever been been so willing to help him, or to go to such lengths. Naruto knew just as much as anybody that getting a new arm was most likely impossible, but Shisui was going to stop at nothing to fulfill his promise to Naruto.

" _And I never go back on my word… That's my ninja way."_

"Shisui," Naruto started, getting the older boy's attention once again, "I think I like your nindo." Shisui smiled at this, and reached his hand down to ruffle Naruto's hair. Naruto tried to swat the hand away, but was only met with Shisui's laughter.

"Well if you like it, I guess I'll just have to pass it on down to you. After all, it's a sensei's duty to pass on his ideals to his student."

***Scene Break***

With Naruto finally settled down and asleep in his new home with Shisui, Shisui silently snuck out of the house and to the waterfall. Itachi was already waiting for him at the meeting place, standing still facing the waterfall. He turned when Shisui had landed behind him, a small smile on his face, only to vanish when he saw Shisui's serious expression.

"I need a favor, Itachi."

Itachi was stunned by Shisui's statement. Shisui rarely asked for anything, and when he did it was usually to poke fun at him. His face told that this was not one of those times.

"What do you need?"

"I need you to help me create an artificial arm."

Itachi was even more confused by this. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"You know Naruto Uzumaki, right? The Jinchuuriki for the nine tails." When he received a nod, he continued. "One week ago, some villagers attacked him. It was brutal. When I first saw him, I didn't even know if he was alive. I got him to the hospital, and he's completely recovered. I've become his guardian now as well."

By now, Itachi was completely lost. "You've become his guardian? Why is that?"

"If you had been there, you'd have understood. This kid needs someone, and I'll be damned if I let the kid live on the streets for one more day. He needs to be taken care of and trained, and I'm going to be the one to do it."

"... Alright, I suppose I understand. But what part of this requires and artificial arm?"

"...The villagers cut off his right arm in their attack."

A moment of silence was shared between the two, Itachi finally fully comprehending just why Shisui felt the need to take Naruto under his care.

"So is there anything you can do, anything you could think of that could help me?"

Itachi thought hard about the subject, but was coming up short. "I can't think of anything. The only human alive who possessed great enough regenerative abilities was Hashirama Senju, and he's…" Itachi said, before a look of realization came to his face.

"Tenzo!"

 **Chapter finish**

 **Author's Note: So I've had this idea stuck in my head for a while now, and just had to get it out. The idea wasn't very developed, so I kind of just came up with things as I was writing them. But I do hope that I goes well. I do hope you all like the changes I'm making, and if you don't, I'll be glad to try to make them better. That is what this is all about after all.**


	2. Chapter 2: Gift of the First Hokage

The Kumo Sharingan

Chapter 2: Gift of the First Hokage

 **Just before the chapter starts, I feel the need to point out that in this story, Tsunade does not have hemophobia.**

 **That is all.**

 *****START*****

It was cloudy in Konoha, storm clouds looming in the distance. Thunder was occasionally heard as two figures ran through the trees, one behind the other. The first dropped to the ground below, taking their fighting stance just as the second dropped down. Both stayed still for a moment, the first still in their stance while the second stood nonchalantly a ways away. The first suddenly started running towards the other, just as raindrops started to fall on them. A punch was thrown, which was immediately blocked. Then a kick. The second figure caught it, and used the captured leg to throw them a ways away. The first figure spun around in the air, landing gracefully on both feet and quickly running back towards the second. The Second finally obliged to the first's unspoken wishes, running towards them as well to participate in the fight.

The fight lasted for hours, both soaked in a mixture of their own sweat and the heavy water raining down on them. They lay on the ground, covered in bruises and their bodies aching. With every slight movement they groaned, though you could easily see they both wore gigantic smiles on their face.

"Your training is paying off Naruto. I sure can feel it. Why do you punch so damn hard anyways?"

"Well you're the one who said not to hold back. That includes how hard I punch you Shisui. Is this your way of telling me you want me to go easy on you? If that's the case, maybe I should be teaching you."

They both laughed, before Shisui stood up, giving Naruto his hand. Naruto accepted, his left hand grabbing it and pulled himself up. Together they started walking back to their house, albeit slowly due to their hurting bodies. Everywhere they walked, people looked at them funny, finding it strange that two boys could look so happy and carefree when they looked so beaten up and were being drenched in the pouring rain.

It was exactly three years since Naruto had been taken in by Shisui, and it had been the best of three years of their life. Naruto was about to turn ten years old, in just one week, and couldn't be more excited. Shisui had promised that this year's gift would be the best he had ever gotten. No matter how many times he begged or how hard he pleaded, Shisui refused to even give the slightest hint of what he was going to be given.

They finally arrived back at their house, and each went into their respective rooms to dry off and change clothes. This was one of the things that had surprised Naruto the most when he had first moved in with Shisui. Never before had Naruto had a room that belonged solely to him. He had a shared room with many orphans, and then was kicked out onto the streets as a child. The closest thing he ever had to a room before was his own box, and those always got destroyed easily with the rain.

Naruto took his shirt off, revealing once again the seal tattooed onto his stomach, and his lone arm. He never found out what the seal on his stomach was, and whenever he had asked the Hokage or Shisui, they just brushed off the question. It made Naruto suspicious, and he had more than once tried to find out on his own. But with his limited knowledge in sealing, which was none, he couldn't for the life of him even begin to fathom what is was.

Though, as Naruto rubbed the spot where his right arm used to be, he relented that he'd rather have his arm back than understand the markings on his stomach. He could remember perfectly the day he had to go back to the academy after having lost it.

 *****FLASHBACK*****

It had been two weeks since Naruto had been released from the hospital, and one week since he had started living with Shisui, and now it was finally the day Naruto had been dreading for those two weeks. Today he had to go back to the academy.

Naruto walked into the classroom and immediately darted for the back corner of the room. Naruto had made sure to arrive very early, so there were only a couple of students in the classroom, and none of them ever paid any attention to Naruto. Naruto wait silently and impatiently for class to start, and grew worried as more and more students filled the classroom. Each time someone walked close to him he became a little more nervous. Naruto tried to stay optimistic about his situation, but he knew that having a missing arm was just the kind of ammunition many of his classmates were just waiting to use against him.

Eventually class started, and everyone's attention was focused on Iruka sensei. Naruto tried to discreetly take notes, as he was told to do by Shisui, but was still having trouble with its legibility. He gave up after a bit and just tried his best to focus on the lesson.

"Kumogakure is one of the five major shinobi villages and resides in the land of lightning. The current Raikage is a man named A, and all three Raikage before him have also been named A. It was founded after the warring states era. Unlike Konohagakure, Kumogakure is entirely run by the military. As can be inferred by where the village is located, many of the shinobi of Kumogakure have a lightning affinity. There is also a kekkei genkai known as the storm release, which quite a few Kumo shinobi possess. This is a combination of lightning release and water release."

After that Naruto tuned most of what he was hearing. He looked around the classroom, only to see Sasuke Uchiha glaring at him from his spot on the other side of the classroom. Naruto looked away quickly after he caught Sasuke's eye. It was clear that he was upset that Naruto was living in the compound. It clearly didn't help that now all of Naruto's shirts had not only the Konoha Military Police Force emblem on them, but also the famous Uchiha clan crest. There was technically no rule against a non Uchiha wearing them, but that had been mainly because no one had ever done it before. I was just known that you don't.

And now Naruto had done it.

"Alright, now we're going to take a break for lunch. Afterwards, I want everybody to gather by the sparring ring. We're having surprise matches today."

As soon as Iruka sensei had said that, Naruto mentally panicked. With sparring matches, everyone was bound to notice the missing arm. He knew of course that they would all eventually find out, but Naruto would have rather had it be later than sooner. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was going to be the other way around.

And even more unfortunate was that Sasuke Uchiha was going to make it even sooner.

"Hey, Uzumaki!" Sasuke said loudly as he started quickly walking towards the blond haired boy. Everyone turned to face them, each of them curious as to what Sasuke was going to say. This was after all, very out of character for him.

"What are you doing wearing that? Only Uchiha are allowed to wear the crest! You think a dobe like you can just come move into the compound and start wearing the clothing like you just belong!" he said angrily, before his eyes looked down to the empty right sleeve. His eyes widened, and before Naruto could do anything, he had grabbed the sleeve.

"And what the hell is this? How'd you lose an arm? Are you seriously that stupid? God, you're even more pathetic than I thought. You're nowhere near worthy enough to wear that crest on your back!"

Murmurs and whispers were heard all around the room, along with some surprised looking faces. Taking a quick glance around the room, Naruto could tell he was in trouble. Most of the children were taking skeptic glances at him, along with what he thought were the faces of someone holding back laughter. Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno look outright angry at Naruto, no doubt immediately taking their love interests side. Shikamaru Nara looked slightly interested, which was a rare expression for him to show, but Naruto could see that there was no malice. Choji Akimichi looked very sad for Naruto, which he was immensely grateful for. Kiba Inuzuka was openly laughing at him. Shino Aburame was… indifferent. The one that puzzled Naruto was Hinata Hyuga. She looked like she was on the verge of an emotional breakdown. Tears were streaming down her face at an unbelievable rate.

'She's probably just scared. She's always been quiet, and now Sasuke's angry. It's got to be terrifying for her' is what Naruto gathered. He turned his eyes back to face Sasuke just in time for him to finish his little speech.

"You're never going to be a shinobi. With only one arm, how do you expect to even pass the academy? One of those wooden dummies could pass easier than you."

At this, many of the students started to laugh, or at least stop hiding their laughter. With the majority of the students either laughing at him, or trying to get Sasuke to "Put him in his place!", Naruto could feel his anger growing inside him. This was the worst treatment he had ever gotten, and it was getting to him. Finally, after someone had said "Put the cripple out of his misery!", Naruto broke.

"Shut up!" he screamed, getting the children to quiet down a little. "All of you shut up! I don't care what any of you think, I'm going to be the best shinobi any of you will ever see! I'll prove you all wrong!

"Besides, my brother said he's going to get me a new arm! He promised! And when I get that arm, then I'm going to be an even greater shinobi!"

"You don't have a brother!" Sasuke immediately retorted, getting another laugh from the students of the classroom. "You're an orphan. You're just a nobody. You don't have any family. And you never will. Trust me, once Shisui see's how much of a failure you are, he'll dump you right back on the streets, where you belong!"

"Sasuke, that's enough!" Iruka shouted, looking very angry at what the Uchiha had said, getting the students to silence themselves. Naruto and Sasuke continued to face each other angrily, the formers eyes brimming with tears. Eventually, Sasuke turned away from Naruto and started walking back to his seat. Naruto sat back down, and the rest of the break was continued in a very tense atmosphere.

Iruka had insisted that Naruto sit out of the spars, stating that Naruto should take more time to get used to being left handed, but Naruto knew that it was to spare him the pain and embarrassment of actually having to participate. Iruka tried to look out for Naruto when he could. At the end of the day, just as all the other students were leaving, Iruka called Naruto to his desk.

"Naruto, I know this is a hard time for you. And I know that Sasuke was the one who initiated this particular confrontation, and I'll talk to him and his parents about it as well, but I need you to try and be civil about this. Can you do that for me?"

Naruto tried his best to be honest when he said "Yes, I promise to try Iruka sensei."

"Good. And hey, Just cause you got a new older brother, don't think that means I'm not going to be around. You're welcome to come to me anytime you need something, or if you just want to get a couple hundred bowls of ramen." Iruka finished with a smile, sending Naruto off home.

Naruto had always liked Iruka, and looked up to him as everything a good shinobi needed to be. It was Iruka who had gotten Naruto his beloved green goggles which still adorned his forehead, even with the cracked left lens. After he had learned that Shisui had left them when he had taken them to the hospital, he had begged for them to be brought back. Luckily for him, no one had wanted something that belonged to the demon child. He truly considered Iruka to be one of his precious people.

 *****FLASHBACK END*****

True to his word, Iruka had talked to Sasuke and his parents. Ever since, Sasuke had not spoken to him a single word to him in school. Outside however, if they happened to run into each other around the compound, Sasuke would mutter something along the lines of "Unworthy" and would walk away from him, even if they were heading the same place. Shisui had gotten Itachi to talk to Sasuke about his attitude several times, but his words fell on deaf ears wherever Naruto was involved. Even Sasuke's mother, Mikoto, whom he adored, couldn't get Sasuke to treat Naruto with any form of respect.

However, Sasuke could no longer taunt Naruto about his lack of ability or talent, even if he were to ever speak to Naruto. Shisui had been training Naruto hard over the last three years, as well as getting some other shinobi they were close with to train him, quickly bring him on par with every one of his classmates and more. Naruto was by no means a prodigy like Shisui and Itachi, but with Guy sensei mentoring him in taijutsu, Kakashi helping him in tracking and survival skills, Iruka's help with shinobi knowledge, and Shisui helping him with just about everything, Naruto was no doubt one of the best in the academy. He and Sasuke had both won their fair share of spars, though Sasuke still had yet to acknowledge Naruto's skill

The one problem Naruto continued to have was ninjutsu. Shisui had said that they would wait a couple of years before they would try one handed seals, so naturally, Naruto trained with them in secret. He knew he was getting the seals right, and he had trained extensively to make sure that his chakra control perfect, knowing that control was what his weakness was. But he continued to have problems with the chakra molding. He had mastered the basic academy three, and the fireball jutsu, as his self assigned right of passage (as well as making Sasuke realize that he was just as good as him), but he always had trouble learning jutsu.

Naruto finished drying himself off, and put on another set of clothes. The outfit consisted of black jogging pants that came down a bit under his knees and a sleeveless gray shirt, complete with the Uchiha fan on the back. And no outfit was complete without his trusty green goggles. When he was dressed, he walked downstairs, only to see Shisui redressed and putting back on his sandals.

"Shisui, where are you going. I thought we had that busy schedule of relaxing after training. You're not going to bail out on me, are you?" Naruto said, giving his older brother a slight smirk as Shisui turned to him.

"I'm afraid I do, it's very important. But don't worry, I truly believe you're going to love me for this." he replied as Naruto walked over to him. Shisui stood up, and ruffled Naruto's hair, causing the almost ten year old to annoyingly swat his hand away. Shisui gave a slight chuckle before heading towards the door. "I'll be back before you know it, and I'll have good news with me."

With that, Shisui exited the house, leaving Naruto alone in their house. As soon as Shisui had left, an enormous smile appeared on his face. He got to work immediately.

 *****WITH SHISUI*****

Shisui quickly made his way through the compound, coming to a halt in front of a door. He gave it three knocks, and waited for a bit. After a bit the door was opened, revealing the body of ten year old Sasuke Uchiha.

"Oh, it's just you." he said, quickly turning away from the older Uchiha. "I'll go get Itachi."

Sasuke walked away from the door, and Shisui was left alone with only the sound of the rain accompanying him. Shisui began thinking Naruto and the progress he had made over the past three years. He was very proud of how much Naruto had matured. When he had first taken in Naruto, he had been a loud mouthed, immature, short sighted and tempered child who would not stop proclaiming his wish to be Hokage.

Of course, there were more good qualities that he had, and Shisui was glad to say that those were the ones that Naruto had retained. Naruto is kind, and always put the needs of others before his own. He is dedicated, never giving up on something he set his mind to until he had mastered it to the point where he could perform anything to it's highest potential with the smallest amount of effort. He's creative, always thinking of ways to accomplish tasks that no one else would have ever dreamed of. Naruto is optimistic and cheerful, always able to make and see the best in a situation.

A minute or so after Sasuke left, Itachi walked out, closing the door behind him.

"So is it ready yet? I don't want to sound pushy, but it kind of needs to be done today, and you said it was going to be done three weeks ago." Shisui said, completely foregoing the formalities of actually greeting his friend.

Itachi sighed in exasperation, giving his friend a small nod. "Yes, we just finished it last night. We're keeping it at headquarters. We can go pick it up now."

Together, they started running towards ANBU headquarters, once again. They leapt across the rooftops, a splash being made with each step they took. "So were we able to get her back here?" Shisui asked.

"Yea, she should be arriving sometime within the end of day. She'll be here in time for the operation. But I hope that you realize that this might be even out of her league. I don't want you to get your hopes up too much. I'm sure he'll understand if"

"It's going to work." Shisui interrupted, just as they were nearing headquarters. "If it doesn't work then I'll make it work. I gave him my word, and I never go back on that."

Itachi stayed still and silent, eventually just giving his friend a solemn nod before they headed into the building. They walked through the halls of the building quickly, arriving in the lounging area. They took a quick glance around the room, before they found the mask they were looking for. They silently motioned for the anbu to come with them, to which they obliged. The three of them walked until the anbu turned into the locker room. Placing his hand on the surface of his locker, a seal was shown as it flashed, the seal unlocking the locker and opening it.

"So it really is done, Tenzo? And everything is perfect? Are you sure it's going to be compatible with his body?" Shisui asked rapidly, startling the two anbu as the now named Tenzo took off his mask.

"Shisui, we won't know for sure until Lady Tsunade does her thing, alright? We've done everything we can do, so if you could just calm down," Tenzo said, giving the Uchiha a very annoyed look, "that would be a very big relief to us all."

Tenzo reached into the locker, and brought out a small scroll. "I imagine you want to see it." he said, getting a nod from Shisui. He rolled out the scroll on the ground, and after putting in a bit of his chakra, the standard puff of smoke came out. Once the smoke cleared out, the item stored in the scroll became known.

A wooden right arm.

It looked like the arm had just been grown straight from a tree. The arm looked to be made from the wood of a sakura tree, having the grey color of the wood. Using his sharingan, Shisui was able to tell that the arm had the exact dimensions of Naruto's left arm. When he picked it up, he was glad to note that although it still held the obvious texture of wood, he could run his hand up and down without getting splinters.

"Now, it's by no means an arm made of flesh and blood," Tenzo started, getting Shisui's attention again, "but I like to think that this has many advantages. It'll be able to work and function just as good as a normal arm. It comes with full movement, and a fully capable nervous system, as well as all the tenketsu that are needed in the arm. We've reinforced the wood to make the arm as strong or stronger than steel, but still maintain the same weight as his other arm. The arm will grow with him, and if it somehow does happen to get cut or break, all he has to do is channel chakra into it and it'll grow right back. It is also resistant to the elements, so no need to worry about it burning or staying soggy. I'd watch out for lightning nature jutsu though, it'll tear right through it."

Shisui once again admired the artwork that was going to be Naruto's new arm, making sure to take it all in. When he turned over it to see all bits of it, he noticed something on the shoulder of it. Beautifully added on the shoulder of the wooden arm was the white and red Uchiha clan crest. Shisui turned to Tenzo.

"That was just something I added as a surprise. I used different woods to get the colors right." Tenzo said, answering Shisui's unasked question.

Shisui took one last look at the arm before sealing it back into the scroll and turning to the two anbu. "Thank you guys so much for helping me with this. I know that this wasn't easy, but this really wasn't something I could do on my own. Hell, you guys did more work on this than I did."

"Don't worry about it Shisui." Itachi said. "It's for Naruto. You know we'd do anything for him."

Shisui gave them both a nod. He gave them each a wave goodbye, failing to notice them glance at the clock in the room. Both of them looked at each other before walking up to Shisui.

"Hey Shisui," Itachi said, putting his hand on the older Uchiha's shoulder, "why don't we stop and get some tea. You know, to celebrate. Very special day I mean, three years ever since you took in Naruto."

Shisui looked at the two of them, confusion clear on his face. "Yea, it is a special day. That's why I'm headed home to spend it Naruto. You know… give him the gift." he said, holding up the scroll. "And I know you don't hang out with too many people Itachi, but most people celebrate with alcohol, not tea."

"Well we're not normal people now, are we Shisui? If not tea, then a spar. Come on, I'm still in the lead by a couple."

Shisui gave Itachi an annoyed sigh. "Even if I wanted to, I'm not in the best condition for that right now. I had a spar with Naruto, and you wouldn't believe how sore I am."

Both Itachi and Tenzo looked surprised at this. "Are you serious?" Tenzo asked getting a nod from the Uchiha. "Little nine year old Naruto can do that to you?"

"Yea, and this is with him only using taijutsu. If he were to stop hiding his ninjutsu training, I'd probably be in even worse condition. He's got more chakra that the Hokage, and that's all his own, not the Kyubi's chakra. Once he can get the hang of ninjutsu, I'll have to stop holding back a bit. And it doesn't help that he's got the stamina of a god."

"That's amazing Shisui. He sure is a prodigy." Tenzo replied.

"No, Naruto is by no means a prodigy. Everything he's accomplished had been through hard work and determination. Calling him a prodigy would be an insult to his skill."

' _That's it, keep him talking. Just for a few more minutes.'_ Itachi and Tenzo thought.

"Alright, well thank you again. But I really have to head home."

' _Fuck.'_

As soon as Shisui was out of sight, Itachi and Tenzo took off in a sprint. They were out of the building in a matter of seconds, and headed to the Uchiha compound.

' _We're just going to have hope that Naruto is ready.'_

 *****WITH NARUTO*****

"Everyone get down, they should be here in a couple minutes. Tenzo and Itachi said they'd try to delay Shisui until it was time."

The lights were turned off inside Shisui and Naruto's house, and hiding in the darkness were the friends they had become closest to over the past three years. Hiding next to Naruto behind the columns holding up the roof was Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiding in a group behind the couch was Iruka Umino with Teuchi and Ayame Ichiraku, sticking to the ceiling was Kakashi Hatake, and hiding in the shadows of the corner was Might Guy. It wasn't necessarily a lot of people, but they were the people that Naruto and Shisui had become very close with over the past three years. Naruto considered each of them to be great teachers to him, as well as his best (and only) friends.

A moment later, the window opened, and Itachi and Tenzo walked in and quickly hid in the shadows. "Shisui's almost here, we made it just before he did. Stay quiet."

A couple more seconds passed in silence, until the sound of someone landing outside was heard. Soon enough the door was opened.

"Naruto, where are you? I've got a surprise for you!"

"I'm over here Shisui!" Naruto yelled back, quickly getting Shisui to walk towards the living room. And as soon as he stepped foot into the room…

"SURPRISE!" everyone shouted as the lights switched on, revealing a room filled with balloons and streamers, colorful confetti raining down from the ceiling Kakashi was now standing upside down on. On the wall behind everyone was a large yellow banner with the words "Happy Adoption Day" written in large black letters. On the table in the center of the room was a very large and overly frosted cake.

"What the hell is this? What's going on?" Shisui asked in confusion, having been very startled by the surprise. Everyone could see that his hand had just about gone for his kunai pouch.

"What do you think this is Shisui? It's a surprise party!" Naruto said, grabbing Shisui's hand and leading him into the room. "We're celebrating three of us being a family, and that obviously calls for a surprise party."

"Yes, but Naruto, you do realize that it's your adoption day, not mine. If anything, I should be throwing you a surprise party." Shisui said, causing the atmosphere around them to be a little more calm.

"Well I don't think so." Naruto said awkwardly. "Cause you know, this may be the day that I was officially adopted, to me, it's the day you became my brother. So, it's kind of a joint special day for us."

Shisui smiled at that, feeling touched that Naruto felt that way. Once the atmosphere had returned to its happy state, the party resumed in full. Hours went by as the group of people talked and laughed, many marveling at how far Naruto's training had come when he demonstrated his ability to walk on the walls perfectly. Both Naruto and Shisui had to reprimand Kakashi for giving them a collection of all the Icha Icha books as a gift. And Naruto was glad to note that Ayame looked very happy talking to Shisui, occasionally touching his arm, and kept making eyes at his lips. Sadly, Shisui seemed oblivious to all of this.

The party eventually came to an end as the guest made their way home. The living room was left a mess, with plastic plates and cups in various spots as well as a large amount of uneaten cake on the table. Shisui finally saw Hiruzen out the door, giving him a wave as he closed the door on the last guest. Once they were both finally sure that they were in fact alone, they immediately fell down to the floor, both completely exhausted after today's spar combined the mental exhaustion of having a party.

"So that was fun. Best adoption day ever, right Shisui?" Naruto said with a small laugh, causing Shisui to turn over to him. He sat back up and took out the scroll from his pouch, laying it right on the floor next to Naruto.

"It's about to get even better." Shisui said, bringing a look of confusion onto the younger's face. He pushed himself up with his lone arm and faced his older brother.

"What is it?"

"It's your birthday present. I had to get it a little early this year, but it'll be worth it."

Naruto looked skeptically at Shisui before grabbing the scroll. He rolled it out on the floor carefully, making sure to clear the surrounding area of any garbage. Once it was laid on the floor, he placed his left hand on the seal shown on the paper, and swatted the following puff of smoke. When he saw what had been released from its seal prison, his eyes widen immensely, and his mouth opened slightly, as if to say something but then stopping himself.

All was silent for almost a full minute, before Naruto suddenly launched himself towards the older Uchiha. "I love it, I love it, I love it!" he said over and over again, his eyes dripping with tears. His hands gripped Shisui's shirt very tightly. Eventually Shisui had to pry off Naruto in order to explain everything about the arm.

"Ok Naruto, this new arm is essentially a wooden upgrade. It's got full movement, feeling, and chakra use. It can regenerate if ever damaged. It's resistant to all the elements, but watch out for lightning. And it's super durable, supposed to be stronger than steel. And it'll be able to grow with you.

"Now I'm giving you the week off from the academy. Tomorrow is going to be the surgery. We tracked down Lady Tsunade herself to do this. And for the next five days you'll be in rehabilitation. That should mean that you get out on your birthday, and you'll be able to enjoy the entire day with your new arm."

By this point, Naruto was unable to speak. The only thing coming out of his mouth were small sobs and hiccups. Shisui grabbed Naruto a leftover cup of water from the table and gave it to him, motioning for him to drink it. Naruto slowly sipped on the water, calming himself down before he set the cup back down again.

"Thank you Shisui. This really is the best gift ever."

Not much else was said between the brothers for the rest of the evening. Shisui sealed the arm again, rolling it up and handing it to Naruto. He sent Naruto off to bed, to which Naruto complied very quickly. He climbed into his bed, still holding the scroll in his hand, and laid down on the soft mattress. He brought up the blankets and placed the scroll under his pillow. He laid with a smile on his have as the still falling rain lulled him to sleep.

 *****THE NEXT DAY*****

"Where the hell is Tsunade , she was supposed to be here a half hour ago." Shisui asked and he paced the length of the hospital room he and Naruto were in. He gave a frustrated sigh as he kept his eyes on the door. Naruto gave his own sigh, but this one was directed at the one pacing the room.

"Calm down Shisui, she'll be here. You need to calm down." Naruto told him, getting no reaction from the older boy. The door opened soon after, and Shisui immediately turned towards it. Shisui turned away in annoyance when in walked Itachi, Tenzo, Kakashi, Guy, Iruka, Teuchi, Ayame, and Hiruzen.

"Now why do you look so down Shisui? Is it really that bad to see us?" Hiruzen said jokingly, getting a chuckle from the group.

"Shisui's just upset that Lady Tsunade is running late." Naruto said, a look of realization coming onto everyone's face.

"Well I think he's just concerned about his little brother. He just wants the best for you, isn't that right Shisui." Ayame put in with a red tint to her cheeks that everyone noticed but Shisui. Naruto slyly raised an eyebrow at her, to which she quickly looked away from to blond.

"Well we walked past her assistant in the hallway, so she'll probably be here any moment." Kakashi said. "In the meantime, I have a question about this arm.

"How exactly does it work? We can't just stitch it in and expect it to work, can we?" he asked.

"Well Kakashi, that kind of is what we're hoping for." Tenzo replied, getting a very confused look from everyone except Itachi and Shisui. "The arm was created mostly using the Mokuton, which I obtained wish Hashirama Senju's dna. So with that, combined with Naruto's dormant Senju dna, and his natural Uzumaki healing abilities, hopefully it will just naturally fuse with his body."

All the shinobi in the room noticed that he conveniently left out the Kyubi. They all knew that all though the Kyubi could be very helpful with the operation, it could also be the sole reason it failed.

The door suddenly opened, revealing the entering figure of the great Lady Tsunade. Walking just behind her was her ever loyal assistant Shizune, who looked rather shy when she saw how many people were in the room. The blond however, gave them all an annoyed glance.

"Alright, unless you're getting a new arm, I need you out of here. You can wait here or you can go home, I don't care, just get the hell out." she said, causing the inhabitants of the room to all look around confused or irritated, and walk out. When they were done, only Shisui remained in the room with Naruto.

"Wow, this is so cool." Naruto said excitedly. "The greatest medic nin in the world is treating me. Can I ask you some questions? I've been intrigued by medic ninjutsu for a while, but there aren't many people to talk to about it."

"No, we're getting this over and done with. I want to leave this damn village as soon as possible." she responded quickly. Naruto quickly took the hint and stayed silent. After a couple of minutes preparing herself with Shizune, Tsunade turned to Shisui and Naruto.

"Alright, now here's what's going to happen. I'm going to have to remove what little you have left of your right arm, and then we're going to have to fuse the arm to your body. Now as a doctor I have to remind you that there is the very real possibility that this may not work, so this is the time to back out. If you don't now, we can't reverse any damage that may be done in the operation."

"We're not backing out." Naruto replied. "This will work. And when it does, I'll be an even greater shinobi."

"Yea yea, whatever you say kid. Alright, Uchiha, you need to leave the room. Shizune will come inform you and your friends when this is done, but be prepared to wait for a couple hours, alright?" Tsunade said, to which Shisui nodded. Shisui turned over to Naruto.

"Alright, we'll be waiting outside Naruto. And remember, don't worry if this doesn't work. We'll find another way. I gave you my word, and there's no way in hell I'm going to go back on it when we've come this far."

"Don't worry Shisui. It'll work. I have faith in my big brother." Naruto said, causing a smile to appear on both of their faces. Shisui then exited the room, leaving Naruto alone with Tsunade and Shizune.

"Alright Naruto, let's get started." she said, causing the young boy to turn and face her.

"You bet. I'm ready for this."

Naruto suddenly noticed that Shizune looked very very nervous, and kept glancing at the older blond woman.

"Alright Naruto, now you should know ahead of time that as much as I'd love to give you some sleeping agents and painkillers, your Uzumaki and Senju healing abilities negate any effect those have. Now there's nothing I can do about the painkillers, there is something I can do about the sleeping agent."

Naruto looked skeptically at the medic nin, and carefully asked, "And what might that be?"

The last thing Naruto saw before the darkness was her fist.


	3. Chapter 3: Three Days Before

The Kumo Sharingan

Chapter 3: Three days before

 *****START*****

Naruto stared at the waterfall in front of him, a look of horror written on his face. His face and body had various cuts and bruises, two particularly prominent cuts going diagonally side by side down a respectable length of his chest. Blood was spattered all over him, staining his clothes, as well as his mind. His body shook as his left eye felt blinding pain. Even so, he continued to stare in front of him.

Off to his side was Itachi, whose hands were also painted over with the red color of death. His eyes were a similar color, with each eye also containing three black tomoe. The tomoe were spinning slowly as he finished what he was doing, and stepped away from the young blond. As he stepped away, his eyes changed from their normal three tomoe to a new three bladed pinwheel.

And as Naruto looked up, his wooden hand closing into a very tight fist, his lavender eye dripping with tears.

And his red one dripped with blood.

 *****THREE DAYS AGO*****

"Move it up Naruto." the doctor said, to which Naruto complied. He lifted his right arm up from his side. Once his hand was above his head, the doctor motioned for him to lower it back down. Once it was down, the doctor walked to the other side of the room, picking up a rubber ball along the way.

"Catch it." he said simply, still looking down at his clipboard while he threw the ball towards the young blond. A moment later and Naruto held up the ball in his right arm, a very proud look on his face. He threw the ball back to the doctor who quickly caught it and set it back in its place before writing something else down on his ever so important clipboard.

"Alright, last test. You ready for this?" the doctor asked. Naruto's face immediately changed to one of determination as he put his hands together, the contrast from flesh and wood impossible to miss.

"I'm more ready than ever." he said. Without the doctor's instruction, Naruto began channeling his chakra into both of his hands. After a couple of moments, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, being replaced with a chair. On the other side of the room, where the chair had come from, Naruto reappeared, though landing on his head rather than his feet.

"Alright, you're still having trouble controlling your chakra and jutsu with the new arm, but that should go away with practice. Other than that, everything is great. Your coordination with your arm is great, very impressive for such a short amount of time. And your ability to perform all of the tasks you already do, even training, is quite excellent. You should be released within the next hour."

"Thank you Dr. Haruno. I'm only this good now because of you." Naruto responded, giving the pink haired man in front of him a respectful bow. The man nodded his head to the child, and then left the room. As he was leaving, Shisui walked in, carrying a grocery bag in his left hand.

"You already to go, or are you still being released?" he asked Naruto as he handed his brother the grocery bag. Out of the bag Naruto pulled out a pair of his black sandals and pants and green goggles. He noticed that his gray Uchiha crested shirt was short sleeved and smiled. The hokage had recommended that Naruto wrapped his arm in medical tape, or at least wear long sleeves in order for it to be not as distracting, but he knew that Shisui wanted everyone to know what they had accomplished.

"He said that it should be within the hour, so I should still be able to make it to school. I still don't see why I have to go. It is my birthday after all."

"Hey, don't try to get out school with the birthday card. This was your gift, remember." Shisui said as he pointed to the arm. "Whether you like it or not the academy is important, so you can just deal, OK?" Shisui told Naruto, quickly putting on his authoritative mask.

"I know I know, I was just thinking that we could hang out. Talk about stuff. Maybe get a spar or two in." Naruto replied back as he slipped out of his hospital robes and started putting on his day clothes.

"Well that sounds great Naruto, but even if I were to let you skip school, I've already made plans with Itachi. He's having a bit of difficulty with something, so I've got to give him some advice. I should be done in time to pick you up from the academy. Then afterwards maybe you, me, Itachi, and Iruka can all go out for some ramen, alright?"

Naruto gave him an excited nod in response, and just a moment later Dr. Haruno walked back into the room.

"Alright you two, you're all set to leave. Naruto, make sure you keep up with your coordination and chakra practices. And Shisui, you make sure Naruto doesn't over do it. If you two do that, Naruto will be up to two hundred percent in no time."

"Thank you Dr. Haruno, your services are very appreciated." Shisui responded. Dr. Haruno left the room and Shisui and Naruto started to leave.

"It really is a mystery how such a nice man like Dr. Haruno has such a bitch daughter."

Naruto received a slap on the back of his head for that statement.

 *****WITH SHISUI*****

Shisui had just dropped Naruto off at the academy and was running towards the waterfall. Under normal circumstances, Shisui might have considered letting Naruto take the day off. But this was a meeting that Itachi had called for with the utmost urgency. He had come by late last night to discuss it, but then deemed it too unsafe to discuss such sensitive information there.

Shisui landed at the meeting spot, a good meter away from Itachi. Itachi looked like he hadn't slept in days, which knowing Itachi, was a very real possibility. He had dark bags under his eyes, and his eyes kept darting around. He was no doubt very much on guard.

"What's happened?" he asked simply, intending to get to the point very quickly.

"... They're making their move soon. They've deemed themselves capable of taking on the village."

"How are they doing that? They postponed it because of a lack of capable shinobi and resources. How could they possibly get everything together in only three years?"

Itachi looked at his friend, and Shisui immediately knew that the answer wasn't pleasant.

"Danzo is helping them. He's given them money from the village, and provided them with a couple of root anbu. Resources and shinobi aren't an issue anymore."

Shisui's eyes widened at the new information. "Why is he helping them, he was the one who suggested a massacre when they were planning this years ago."

"I haven't the slightest clue. At first I thought that this was his way of trying to get the massacre to happen. By helping get them to plan, he could easily get us to slaughter them. But I've had Tenzo look into it, and he says that the root assigned to help are legit. There's literally no reason for this."

Shisui took a couple deep breaths, taking a couple moments to process the information. He knew that the Uchiha would try to plan to coup again at some point, but he wasn't counting on sponsorship from Danzo.

"Well we need to speak with the Hokage as soon as possible, preferably with the elders and Danzo there. We need to figure out exactly what they plan to do."

"There's no need. I already know." Itachi replied, his face taking on a very clear look of sadness. He stepped up closer to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The Uchiha are going to release and control the Kyubi… They're going to use Naruto."

 *****WITH NARUTO*****

"Alright Naruto, you can do this. You are an Uchiha. And the Uchiha never back down."

Naruto took several deep breaths, preparing himself to walk into the academy. And while Naruto knew that he was not an Uchiha by blood, or even officially recognized as one, Naruto considered himself to live up to the name, at least enough so for him to start introducing himself as Naruto Uchiha. Ever since being taken into Shisui's care three years ago, Naruto's only true goal was to bring honor to the crest he wore on his back and arm, and to one day be recognized as an accomplished member of the clan.

Naruto was now wearing his black shinobi sandals, black pants, and short sleeved gray shirt. As usual, on the back of his shirt was the Uchiha Military Police Force crest. His green goggles took their designated spot on his forehead, with the left lens still cracked from that day.

Naruto took one last calming breath before walking into the academy. As he walked towards his classroom, he passed a couple of the teachers, all of whom had to do a double take when they saw Naruto with his new arm. Naruto quickly reached his classroom, and once again had to take a moment to prepare himself before entering. He slowly reached out, opened the door, and walked through.

His lavender eyes met the stares of all the kids in the classroom, who at first were wondering why Naruto was late again, but were now entirely focused on his new limb. Naruto froze up at all the stares he was receiving. Keep in mind that Naruto was a very confident child, which spoke volumes at how nervous he was about everyone's reactions.

' _Are they going to try and use this to make fun of me as well?'_ he kept thinking.

"Glad that you've come back Naruto." the voice of Iruka said, interrupting everyone's thoughts. "Why don't you take the empty seat at the back of the room? When class is over I'll give you the work that we've done this past week."

"Thank you Iruka-sensei." Naruto replied, quickly making his way up to the seat. Naruto didn't want people looking at him any longer than necessary.

He sat in his seat, and the lesson continued from where Iruka-sensei had left off. He was talking about kekkei genkai, something that Naruto, and all of the clan children, had learned about years ago. Every now and then, Naruto caught someone looking over at him, and they always looked over in a different direction. Naruto frequently caught the eye of Hinata Hyuuga, who in turn would become bright red, look away very quickly, and feel for something in her big bulky coat.

Naruto was confused by this every time.

Eventually, the dreaded lunch break came. And as Naruto expected, the majority of his classmates rushed towards him in order to find out what they could about his new arm.

"How'd you get it Naruto?", "Can I touch it?", and "Can it do anything cool?" Were some of the more common questions that Naruto got asked by everyone.

"Calm down everybody," Iruka said loudly, quickly gathering the attention of the students, "I'm sure we all want to hear about Naruto new arm. But he can't answer them if everybody is talking at once. If Naruto is willing to answer questions, then do so in a calm manner."

Naruto smiled at his sensei, who gave his own smile and nod to the blond. This was Iruka's way of giving him an out.

"Thank you Iruka-sensei, but I'd prefer to not have to answer too many questions. Maybe at another time though."

"Alright then. Everybody, no more questions." Iruka said, getting a large groan from most of the class. "I think it sounds like you want extra homework, correct?"

Everyone calmed down after that.

 *****AFTER CLASS*****

Naruto walked out of the academy with the rest of the children, and immediately found Shisui waiting for him. Standing next to Shisui was Itachi, who looked even more tired in Naruto's opinion. Naruto was about to wave to them and run over when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He turned around and found that it was Hinata, who was looking even more nervous than usual. Her light lavender eyes refused to meet his own, brighter lavender eyes. In her hands was a package wrapped in orange wrapping paper, with tiny Uchiha crests on it.

"Hey Hinata. What's up?" Naruto asked, confused as to why Hinata would be talking to him. Whenever she even so much as looked at him she turned red and would look away. And he was pretty sure she had a condition at one point. About a year ago, Hinata tripped during one of the classes physical tests. But when Naruto took her hand to help her up, she fainted.

"I uh, j-just wanted t-to say c-congratulations on your n-new arm. And t-to wish you a h-happy b-birthday."

"Oh , thanks Hinata. I didn't think anyone remembered my birthday." Naruto replied. And then, for reasons Naruto could never explain, Hinata turned bright red.

"Umm., uh. Uhhhh. Here!" Hinata stuttered and yelled. She violently handed him the package she was holding before she ran off faster than Naruto had ever seen anyone in the academy run. He could have swore that he saw a path of dust trailing behind her.

Naruto stared at where she was for a couple seconds in confusion, before he gave a slight shrug, and turned back to walk towards Shisui and Itachi, while also noticing that Sasuke had joined them. While he was walking back, he looked over the package that Hinata had given him. It was. It was small, about the size of his palm, and when lightly shaken he could hear something moving against it.

"What'cha got there, Naruto?" Shisui asked when he had reached the group of Uchiha. All their eyes quickly looked down at the package that Hinata had forced upon him, and quickly analyzed it. Shisui quickly donned an expression of mischief.

"Is that a gift, Naruto?" Shisui asked in a suddenly happy voice that made Naruto nervous instantly. " I think so, Hinata gave it to me… Why?"

"I think someone might have a crush on our little Naruto" Shisui replied in a very high sing song voice. Naruto's face immediately turned red with embarrassment, and he turned his body towards Shisui.

"Shisui, w-what the hell are you talking about! That's ridiculous!" Naruto shouted.

"You're right." Sasuke said, shocking Naruto into remembering that Sasuke was there. "There's no way that a girl from an esteemed clan like the Hyuga's would go so low as to be attracted to the loser orphan."

"Sasuke!" Itachi said loudly, a rare display of anger towards his younger brother. Sasuke flinched at the voice and turned his head towards his older brother, his face showing slight worry and fear. Itachi's eyes met Sasuke's, and instantly Sasuke looked back towards the ground.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for." Sasuke said, clearly not meaning it, but too afraid of what Itachi might say if he didn't. Naruto nodded back at Sasuke, his face gone from the earlier embarrassment, now a serious and firm expression.

"Yes, it was. But thank you for apologizing." Naruto said, his voice as firm as his face. Shisui was proud of the way Naruto handled issues. When he first took him in, a simple insult on his height would have sent Naruto into a frenzy, with him demanding to fight the one who had called him out.

'Now that I think about it,' Shisui thought, taking a good look at Naruto, 'He looks taller than usual. Taller than most of his classmates.'

"Well, we should be getting back home. But I'll see you at Ichiraku's later. Farewell." With that, Itachi and Sasuke left the academy and started on their way to the Uchiha compound.

Shisui had to make a quick stop by the Hokage's office, which in Shisui language meant that Naruto would be stuck waiting outside of the office for about an hour. So the two of them quickly made their way into town and towards the Hokage's building.

"Alright Naruto, I'll try to be quick. Just wait out here, and afterwards we'll head over to Ichiraku's." Shisui said before giving Naruto's hair a scruff and walking into the Hokage's office.

"Just make yourself comfortable on one of the waiting chairs Naruto, it'll most likely take a while." The Hokage's secretary pointed towards the seats lined up on the wall, which Naruto walked over to and sat on. He sat the present that Hinata had given him down onto the seat next to him, and started the long process of trying to keep himself from going insane with boredom.

"What's that?" a new voice said next to Naruto, causing the young blond to scream in fright and fall off his chair. Standing back up, he took a look to his left to see this mysterious person.

It was a girl who looked around his age, maybe just a tad younger. She had dark skin that looked like the smoothest thing Naruto had ever seen. She had white hair that was cut short, and dark green eyes that Naruto was mesmerized by. She was dressed in a simple long sleeved gray shirt with black pants. She wore the same sandals that Naruto wore.

"Uhh, what's what?" Naruto asked back when he realized that he might have been staring a bit too long. Her eyes looked confused at his question.

"The thing you set down on the chair. What is it?" She asked, clarifying her earlier question. Once Naruto realized that she wasn't talking about his new arm, he relaxed.

"I don't know, a girl in my class gave it to me after school." Naruto asked. He looked at her once again, and realized that he had never seen this girl, not even in passing through the town. And she clearly wasn't from Konoha, otherwise she not only would have known who he was, but would have most likely tried to belittle and be mean to him.

"Oh, well I hope you enjoy your gift. Is it perhaps your birthday today?" the girl asked, further shocking Naruto with this stranger's kindness. "Yes, it is. I just turned ten years old."

"I am nine years old myself, I wish you a most enjoyable birthday. Pardon my earlier rudeness, my name is Mabui Sekiyama. May I ask what you're name is?"

By this point Naruto was beaming and smiling at the unusual kindness this girl was giving him. No kid his own age ever willingly gave out their name to him, at least not when they found out exactly who he was. Yet Mabui had just given it out to him, just like everyone else gave theirs out to other people.

"My name is Naruto Uchiha, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mabui Sekiyama."

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Naruto Uchiha. I hope you don't mind my asking, but you look very different from what the Uchiha usually look like. Is there a particular reason for this?"

"I was adopted about three years ago. My older brother is an Uchiha, and the best one there is! If I may ask you as well Mabui, you don't look like you're from Konoha."

Mabui looked just the tiniest bit uncomfortable at that statement, but looked down at the floor to try and hide her expression. "No, I'm from Kumo. I'm just accompanying my father here for some meetings. I'm not allowed to know what it is. But apparently it's pretty important."

"You're from Kumo!?" Naruto exclaimed, abandoning their unusually formal way of talking, while simultaneously causing Mabui to bring her head back up in surprise. "That's so cool! I've always wanted to visit Kumo! Are the mountains as beautiful as everyone says they are? And the Raikage is so awesome, isn't he the fastest shinobi alive? I mean, I totally bet that my brother is faster and could beat him, but that's still so cool!"

Mabui looked at Naruto for a couple seconds with a confused expression, and just as Naruto was starting to think that his personality lost him another chance at friendship, the girl started giggling, and her expression calmed down considerably.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I just thought that-"

"Don't worry about it Naruto, I appreciate you enthusiasm for my country." Mabui interrupted, a smile wide on her face. "Not too many of the Konoha people have been too happy about us being here, so it's nice to know that there's at least one person here who is okay with us."

Naruto smiled at that, and was relieved that he still had a chance to make his first friend. "Oh yea, Kumo sounds amazing. Shisui met a shinobi from Kumo on a mission about two years ago, and ever since then he's always told me how much he wants to take me some day."

"You seem to talk about your brother quite a lot Naruto. You must admire him quite a bit." Mabui replied with a look of adoration on her face.

"Oh yea, Shisui is the best. He's probably the greatest shinobi in Konoha, and one day, I'm gonna be just like him." Naruto said. Deciding to take another risk, he raised his right arm to show Mabui. "Look, he even got me this arm last week for my birthday, to replace the one I lost."

Mabui's eyes looked up and down the arm, widening with wonder. "Wow, that's so cool! It's made of wood!? I've never heard of something like that. Can it do everything a normal arm can?"

"That, and more. It comes with all sorts of cool upgrades. I can't quite get the hang of focusing chakra through it yet, but it'll be so sweet when I can."

Just then, out of the Hokage's office came a man who wore the traditional one strapped Kumo vest, with dark skin and white hair. He looked to Mabui's father, and had a somewhat effeminate look to him. As if he were to grow his hair, he could be passed of as a girl. He walked over to the two children, and as the door was closing, Naruto could see Shisui stand in front of Hiruzen's desk, and what was unsettling to Naruto was that Shisui looked very worried.

"Mabui, we are done for the day. Are you ready to head back to the hotel before dinner?" The man asked, reaching his hand down to Mabui's head to pet it. Mabui swatted the hand away quickly, looking very embarrassed that he had done that.

"Sure thing dad. But this is my friend Naruto Uchiha. Naruto, this is my father, Akio Sekiyama."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sekiyama." Naruto said as he shook the man's hand, trying his absolute hardest not to smile as widely and happily as he was. This was the first time another person around his age had ever called him a friend.

"The pleasure is mine Mr. Uchiha. I was just in there with your older brother Shisui. Fine young man he is. And he spoke very highly of you when the Hokage mentioned you. It is wonderful that some citizens here are as good as the two of you, and even better that you should befriend Mabui." Akio said, a small mile of his effeminate face as he let go of the blond's hand.

"Well, Mabui and I should be going. We will be in the village for a few more days, so we hope to see you around Naruto." he said as he and Mabui looked about to leave.

"If I may ask, sir, but do the two of you know what you might do for dinner? If not, then Shisui, myself, and a couple other fine shinobi are going to be having dinner at Ichiraku's ramen in the market district. If you two would like, you are more than welcome to come."

Naruto was hoping that the two of them would say yes, if only for a chance to hang out with his first friend some more. And if it were possible, then the two of them could arrange another time to meet up once more before she had to go back to Kumo.

Akio Sekiyama looked in thought for a moment, before turning his head down to look at his daughter. "Mabui, would you like to go to this Ichiraku's restaurant?"

"Yes please!" Mabui said louder than she usually talked. "It would be great to see Naruto and his friends. And ramen is so good!"

Naruto's respect for Mabui was increased the second he found out she loved ramen. "Very well, we shall join you, Naruto." Akio sad, turning over to Naruto, smiling at how happy his daughter had gotten. "What time should be expected to arrive?"

"We all plan on being there around six thirty. I look forward to seeing you two there, Mr. Sekiyama."

"We look forward to seeing you there as well, Naruto. Goodbye." Akio replied formally, taking his his daughter as the two of them started making their way down the stairs and out of the building.

"See you later Naruto!" Mabui yelled as she made started down the stairs, prompting a "See ya!" from the blond haired ten year old.

Naruto calmed down quite a bit once the Sekiyama's were out of sight. Naruto never like having to talk so formally, and that was probably the longest discussion with someone his own age that hadn't ended with him being the target of hateful comments. So it had taken quite a lot of energy from him. But he was still smiling, so widely you might have thought he had gotten a coupon for free ramen from Teuchi.

But now came the long wait he had until Shisui was done speaking with Hiruzen, leaving him alone with his gift, and silence.

 *****TWO HOURS LATER*****

Shisui finally walked out of the Hokage's office, with not only Hiruzen at his side, but apparently Itachi had snuck in there at some point. All three looked exhausted from the discussion, but there was one person who would not stand for such injustice.

"You!" Naruto yelled at the three of them, causing all three of them to jump in shock. "It's been over two hours! Do you know how boring it can get with two hours and absolutely nothing to do!? I felt like I was going crazy! What on earth could possibly justify a two hour meeting!?"

The three shinobi looked caught off guard at the question, and luckily it was Shisui who was able think of something the quickest. "Well Naruto, Lord Hokage needed Itachi and I to help him with team placements for the new batch of genins. You know how old he's getting, he's having trouble doing it alone"

"Hey, I may be getting old, but I am the Hokage." Hiruzen said to Shisui, looking quite offended at being the scapegoat for Shisui's lie. Itachi however had a small smile on his face, which was good considering what they had just spent the last two hours discussing.

"Well, that's not a good excuse, but I guess I'll allow it. Anyways, we've got to get going guys. We've got to be at Ichiraku's soon." Naruto said while turning around, clearly in an attempt to take charge of the situation by leading them out.

"Well I will see you all later. As much as I wish I could accompany the three of you, I've got some important meetings to attend to." He said, directing the statement at Itachi and Shisui, who both gave a sad nod. By this time tomorrow, Hiruzen would have a final decision on how to deal with the Uchiha threat. Although right now it looked like they already knew what had to be done.

By this time tomorrow, Shisui would be given the mission to use kotoamatsukami on the Uchiha clan.

 *****AUTHORS NOTE*****

 **First off, I would like to apologize for being gone for so long. I have been quite busy as of late, and haven't had too much time to write much of anything, other than some papers for class. But to those of you who are still bothering to keep up, or have just read any of my stuff, thank you for keeping with it.**

 **I would just like to assure those who are getting anxious for the part where the story actually begins, that it is coming soon, and that if you just wait a couple chapters, that it will be here, and that I really think it'll be worth your while. Naruto will be getting his sharingan soon enough, Sasuke will be put in his place, the civilians will be civilians, and Naruto will only get better.**

 **Second, I would appreciate your opinion on one detail of the story. As with most Sharingan!Naruto stories, it is fairly obvious that at some point Naruto will get the Rinnegan. Now I can promise you that this event will not happen for a very, very long time, and that I have no such plans to make him overpowered because of it. But I would like your ideas and opinions on how this should be handled.**

 **Now keep in mind that I already have an idea on how Naruto obtains his, so I don't believe that I need any help with this. But I would like help with how the rinnegan should look, and what it's unique ability should be. As I wrote this, it sounds weird, but hear me out.**

 **I thought about what Naruto would like with the rinnegan, and I started considering giving Naruto the rinnegan pattern that Sasuke had. I personally find it much cooler, and more practical, than the others. My issue is that I'm not sure if that particular pattern of rinnegan should be only for Sasuke. If any of you have any concrete reasons why you think it should or shouldn't be given to Naruto, please inform me.**

 **Second order of rinnegan business is the unique ability that Naruto's rinnegan should have. An example of this is Madara's limbo. I am having trouble coming up with an ability that isn't overpowered. If any of you have ideas, let me know.**

 **That should conclude this note. Once again, thank you for keeping up with this.**


	4. Chapter 4: Shisui's Goodbye

The Kumo Sharingan

Chapter 4: Shisui's Goodbye

 *****QUICK NOTE*****

I just felt that it might be necessary to warn people before the chapter that this is where I start making a lot of my own changes to this universe. In this story I have made Shisui the younger brother of Obito (an idea from Naruto: The Uchiha Prodigy, which I thought was a great idea, and helped inspire this story), and this will come up quite a bit throughout the story. There will also be some very, VERY clear changes made to Hinata, and this is just something I'm trying for the hell of it. I think it'll work out, and I'm a bit excited, but for people who like Hinata the way she is in canon, I'm sorry.

Also, as you are going to read in the next section, I have come up with something for Naruto's sharingan that I think hasn't been done before, and something I'm very excited about. I think it'll add a little more awesome to the story, and certainly add to Naruto's character. I hope you all enjoy it.

So, if you don't like it when the authors make changes like that to the story, then proceed with caution. I appreciate any comments. But you have been warned.

 *****START*****

The village was shrouded in the veil of night as a lone cloaked figure ran across the rooftops of Konohagakure. The black cloak flowing behind them, and their head topped with messy, somewhat wavy blond locks, flowing in the wind made by their running. A large part of their face was covered by a black face mask, but one red eye and one lilac eye could be seen underneath the mess of blond hair.

As they were running, there were several other shinobi attempting to catch up towards the blond shinobi. They were all clothed in the Uchiha police force uniform, with lighter colored shinobi clothing, and the police force emblem on their shoulders. They continuously threw shuriken and kunai at the cloaked shadow, which they always avoided. Another member of the police force appeared ahead of the running figure, only to receive a jumping kick to the face.

"Signal the gate guards, Danzo needs him in the village! We can't let the demon who killed Shisui get away!" One of the Uchiha yelled. After the command was given, another of them pulled out a purple flare and shot it towards the sky, a village signal to secure the village gates and keep the perimeter secure. The two guards saw the signal and closed the gates, and many chunin rushed to the walls, prepared to defend it.

As the blond shinobi got closer to the gates of the village, the red eye began spiraling and the tomoe seen on it changing shape, until it formed three curves, all connected around a red pupil. Right as they were at the entrance, the voice whispered quietly, "Amaterasu!" With that, a strange, almost mystical black fire engulfed the gate to the village spreading throughout the entire wall. When a hole was formed by the crumbling village wall, the blond shinobi ran through, leaving the Konoha shinobi to deal with the inextinguishable flames.

Meanwhile, watching the entire thing in a secret office underneath the ground with a crystal ball, was the leader of Root. He had messy black hair, a heavily bandaged right face, and a scar on his chin in the form of an X. He made a signal with his left arm and immediately one of his Anbu was kneeling at his side.

"Contact Orochimaru immediately. Tell him to look into the eternal mangekyou sharingan. And let Naruto Uchiha escape, he will be crucial in the tests to gaining multiple sharingan powers, later in his life though."

As the Anbu leapt away to complete the orders that were given to him by his master, Danzo looked at Naruto as he ran through the forest unfollowed, and thought to himself, _'How did you do it Naruto? How were you able to gain the Amaterasu? Did Shisui lie about having only the Kotoamatsukami. Is this unique to you alone?'_

 *****ONE WEEK EARLIER, 14 HOURS UNTIL SHISUI'S DEATH*****

"Gah!" Naruto screamed as his face hit the floor, his body following soon after. He heard someone shuffling a bit beside him, their feet dragging against his bedroom floor.

"Get up, you lazy kid. You're going to be late for the academy. I swear, your laziness is going to kill me one day." Shisui said as he started making Naruto's bed. Even though Shisui was using what he liked to call his "adult voice", he still had a small smile on his face as he was tucking Naruto's blanket into the bed.

"You know, there will come a day where you won't be able to push me out of bed anymore. I'll be so strong, that I'll be the one pushing you out of bed!" Naruto said, mock glaring at his older brother, while the latter gave his younger brother a smirk.

"First, let's focus on your chakra molding problem, then we'll see about becoming stronger than me." Shisui replied, bringing his hand down to Naruto in an offer to help him up. Naruto gave him a confident smile, taking Shisui's hand with his own wooden one and pulling himself up.

"Don't you worry, Shisui, that day is coming sooner than you think!" Naruto said, shortly before he got the back of his head slapped by Shisui's hand.

"It'll get here even faster, once you get ready and go to the academy! You're just stalling now."

So after another short round of arguing, Naruto reluctantly pulled himself out of his pajamas, and into a pair of black pants and a long sleeved dark gray, Uchiha crested shirt. He grabbed his signature green goggles and placed them on his forehead. And lastly, Naruto put on his shuriken and kunai pouches on his hip and right leg

Those were part of his gifts from Kakashi. Kakashi had gotten him some more training gear, including weight training seals that could increase in weight, scrolls on a couple c-ranked jutsu, and some more proper shinobi tools and pouches. Itachi had gotten him his own tanto, much like the one Shisui had, which Naruto kept proudly displayed on his nightstand. Gai had given him a set of his goken taijutsu training scrolls, stating that although the Uchiha interceptor first was a very youthful taijutsu form, that Naruto might want a backup. Iruka had gifted Naruto a small calligraphy set, knowing that Naruto was struggling to learn the art. Tenzo had given him a copy of Tales of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja, which Naruto had completely devoured in a single night. And Hiruzen had given Naruto the current bane of his existence, the scroll for the rasengan.

The most peculiar gift he had gotten though, was the one he had received from Hinata, a long red scarf, so long as to nearly touch the ground when he wore it. It was beautifully made, and was perhaps the softest piece of clothing that Naruto had ever touched. If it were winter, he would be wearing it, but it didn't get cold enough to justify a scarf until mid-November in fire country. Naruto still appreciated the gesture.

His birthday dinner at Ichiraku's had been one of the best days he had ever had. The Ichiraku's gift was of course, a free birthday meal for the whole party, which Naruto had quickly taken advantage of. The whole gang was there, laughing along with each other and telling stories. But what Naruto particularly enjoyed was the presence of his new friend, Mabui. They had had a blast getting to know the other, finding out some great things about each other.

They both had the same favorite food, both excelled at taijutsu and shurikenjutsu, and loved reading. Although Mabui preferred a good nonfiction book, which Naruto called useless, unless it had to do with shinobi training. They both wanted to go into the shinobi area of work, but where Naruto wanted to be a field shinobi, Mabui liked the idea of being an analyst. Even with the few differences they had, Naruto and Mabui had been getting along great. They had been hanging out together after Naruto finished at the academy ever since that day. Although a bit sad was the fact that Mabui and her father would be returning to Kumo tomorrow.

As Naruto made his way to the academy, he couldn't help but think what his life would be like when the two of them left. It had been extremely nice to have a friend for once, or at least on around his own age. When Mabui was gone, he would be left with no other kid to talk to and have fun with. Although he supposed he might run into her if he were to ever go on a mission around the kumo area, although he wouldn't say it was a definite possibility.

Naruto walked into the classroom and took his usual seat at the back corner of the room by the window. Some of the other students were already in class, but the majority started flowing in soon after Naruto had entered. Shino Aburame sat in the seat to the right of Naruto, for which Naruto was grateful. He and Shino had never really spoken to each other much, but Naruto appreciated Shino's respectful quietness and dedication to learning whatever was being taught.

Two seats from Naruto, and to the seat to the right of Shino, sat Hinata. She sat down with a red face and her two index fingers poking each other in her signature act of anxiety. Neither Hinata nor Naruto would be able to notice it, with Shino's sunglasses in the way, but Shino took a quick glance at the quiet girl. He studied the girl for a moment, before giving a quiet sigh, giving his unspoken sympathy for the love-struck girl.

A low rumbling was heard coming from outside. As the seconds passed, the rumbling proceeded to get louder and louder. Naruto could feel an ever so slight shaking in his chair as the sound continued to grow. Naruto looked out the window to his left, and saw a cloud of dust in the distance, heading in their direction. As the distance between the dust cloud and the academy shortened, he could make out two figures at the front of it, looking as if they were ramming into each other side by side rather violently.

"Get away from me Ino-pig, Sasuke's mine!" the pinkette shouted, so much so that you could hear it from where Naruto was. Ino rammed into Sakura's side again, her elbow digging into the other girls' side.

"Why don't you back off, Billboard Brow! Sasuke is obviously in love with me! Now way would he even think about going out with you!" Ino screamed back, her arms swinging widely back and forth in an attempt to increase her stride and get ahead of her rival.

Naruto looked over to the right side of the classroom to see Sasuke sitting by himself, his eye twitching as the voices came closer and closer to the academy building. Naruto could see Sasuke preparing himself for the two academy girls inevitable advances. Naruto didn't usually care much for the raven haired student, but he did feel sorry for him wherever the two worst fangirls were concerned.

Soon enough the two girls made it to the academy, and in a couple seconds had made it to the classroom door, each struggling to push the other out of the way of the door while simultaneously shouting "First!" at each other.

"That's enough!" Iruka shouted at the two girls, instantly getting everyone's attention and causing the argument between the two girls to cease. "Class is going to begin in a couple minutes. So why don't you two just calm down and pick a seat. And both of you sit away from Sasuke!" He said, saying that last sentence before the two girls could try and get to the seat next to Sasuke before the other. Begrudgingly moved to opposite sides of the room and sat down, both returning the other's glare.

Naruto saw Sasuke visibly relax, his shoulders coming down from their very still state and his head drop a little as he let out his breath. Naruto would never probably never get along with Sasuke, but he could at least understand him.

 *****11 HOURS UNTIL SHISUI'S DEATH*****

"Alright, we're going to have break, and then we'll be participating in some spars. Participation is mandatory, and no forfeiting. Got it, Shikamaru? " Iruka said, looking towards the zoned out Nara with a stern gaze. Shikamaru looked at the teacher lazily, giving a small grunt to show that he understood. The students started moving around, each of them bringing their lunches as they walked over to whatever group they normally had lunch with.

Naruto tool out his lunch, opened the window and jumped out. Seeing as Naruto had no real friends in the academy, Naruto preferred to eat outside. After he ate lunch, he would usually train in the academy training grounds for a bit before class started.

Naruto made his way to a nearby tree that he liked and sat down under it. Naruto's favorite part of the academy day was lunch, and being able to relax under his favorite tree, away from the loud voices of the academy's two legendary banshees. After he finished eating, he walked over to the academy targets and worked profusely on his shuriken and kunai throwing, both in its aim and power. He practiced for a few minutes before he felt something behind him. Turning ever so suddenly, he saw Hinata a few feet from him, which elicited a small "Eep!" from the lightly lilac eyed heiress.

"Oh, Hinata, I didn't mean to frighten you." Naruto said to her, Hinata's face reddening from shyness. "Is there anything you require from me?"

Hinata was startled by Naruto's question, not used to anyone other than the branch family of the Hyuga clan asking her if they could do anything for her. The thought of having Naruto do something for her seemed appealing, _"Like a knight in shining armor.",_ she thought, but she didn't want to abuse Naruto's generosity.

"Umm, I w-was just wondering if y-you like the gift I gave y-you." Hinata asked, her pointer fingers poking each other in their signature sign of nervousness. She wouldn't tell him that she had actually made that herself, but she did hope that with all the extra effort she put into the scarf that Naruto would really appreciate it.

"Oh yea, it's so great Hinata, thank you. Damn, I wish I had gotten something for you as well."

' _He wishes he got something for me! Oh kami, I can feel myself getting faint. No, stay strong Hinata! You have to ask him about HER!'_

"So N-Naruto, I notice t-that y-you have been spending t-t-time with s-s-s-s-omeone after school. W-Who is she?" Hinata said, her shyness and stutter increasing tenfold due to the conversation. Hinata couldn't quite explain it, she should be happy that Naruto had made a friend, but Hinata just couldn't stand the thought of the Kumo girl hanging around HER blond.

Oh, that's Mabui. She's really cool! She's from Kumo, her favorite food is ramen, and she's super funny. And she's got a super cool shinobi dad, and she's a really good kunouichi. She has to go back to Kumo tomorrow though." Naruto ranted, faster than most people could even process words. Hinata however hung on to his every word, and her emotions were going crazy.

' _Why do I feel so angry at this Mabui girl for being Naruto's friend, I should feel happy for them. She seems like the perfect friend for him as well. But all I can feel is hate for her! But it's okay, she has to go back to Kumo tomorrow, and with luck, never see Naruto again!'_

"That's great Naruto!" Hinata said, louder than she normally spoke and her stutter gone, too excited about the Kumo girl leaving to notice her anxiety. "I'm sorry that she has to leave tomorrow."

"Yea, it's too bad. But we're going to be sending each other letters, and we'll definitely visit each other I think, so it'll be fine. I think it'd be really cool if we were able to see each other on missions when we become shinobi as well." Naruto said, once again not realizing the horrible thoughts that he was putting into the Hyuga clan heir's head.

' _THAT BITCH!'_

"Naruto, Hinata!" Iruka called, quickly getting the attention of the academy students. "It's time for the spars!"

Naruto and Hinata walked towards the sparring ring where most of the students were already gathered. They all formed a circle around the ring, and one by one Iruka started the spars. Most of them were civilian against civilian or clan against clan, except for when Kiba was put up against a brown haired Sasuke fangirl named Anzu, who beat Kiba to the ground with one punch after he insulted the raven haired Uchiha. Finally came the spar that for some unknown reason to any of the kids always happened

"Naruto Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha, please step into the ring."

The lilac eyed blond and the black eyed Uchiha both stepped into the ring, the latter glaring at the former. Whenever somebody called Naruto with that surname, Sasuke always got more angry than he already was. They both made the seal of confrontation, and a second later Iruka shouted "Begin!"

Sasuke began running towards Naruto with the most speed he could manage, intent on putting down his only obstacle to being the top student in the academy. He sent a fist to Naruto aimed for his face, and Naruto quickly stepped to the side. Naruto grabbed the arm that Sasuke had extended, spun himself around with the other boy, and threw Sasuke to the other end to the ring. Naruto could have thrown him out of the ring, and therefore won the match easily, but he knew that that would only anger him more. So no choice other than to give him a bit of what he wanted.

Sasuke twisted himself in the air and landed quite gracefully, and took off once again at the blond. He threw a punch with his right fist, this time aimed for Naruto's abdomen, which Naruto swatted away with his left arm. While Naruto was doing that, Sasuke smirked while he brought his left foot for a kick, and was surprised when Naruto blocked that as well with his new arm.

' _Damn,'_ Sasuke thought as he took a small leap away from Naruto, _'I had enough trouble dealing with him when he only had one arm.'_ Sasuke grew a little more angry at that, and once again charged Naruto, hoping that he could overwhelm Naruto with either strength or speed.

Sasuke came at his enemy with everything he had, pushing himself harder and harder to try and finish him. And by every passing second, he grew more frustrated at the fact that he couldn't seem to touch the blond. They were both using the Uchiha interceptor fist, so why was it that Naruto wasn't having any trouble fighting him? He had used the clan's taijutsu ever since before the academy, there shouldn't be any reason that this Uchiha wannabe could use it so flawlessly.

"Come on Sasuke, stop holding back! I love you!" one pink haired cheerleader screamed, irking the blond girl next to her. "Don't listen to her Sasuke, I'm the one for you!" she screamed in response. Soon enough, the entire female population of the class, save one dark blue haired girl, were screaming their words of infatuation and encouragement.

Naruto, throughout this whole ordeal, had been fairly focused and calm. Three years ago, not only would he have been beaten by Sasuke before he could even know what happened, but would have grown upset and jealous at everyone cheering for his opponent rather than him. But now, the only thing Naruto felt in this situation was annoyance that none of his classmates were taking this seriously. Naruto wouldn't lie and say he was the most mature person, but they were training to be shinobi dammit. This wasn't a popularity contest, it was training for situations where it would be a fight to the death.

Deciding that he had been at this long enough, Naruto went in, finally going on the offensive. Naruto ran towards the raven haired pain in the ass and took a leap as his leg extended. Sasuke smirked as he saw the kick coming, knowing that he could easily counter it. Sasuke put his hands up can caught the foot before it could kick him away. Sasuke was smiling more that he normally did, but that stopped when he saw Naruto's own smile. Before Sasuke could do anything about it, Naruto had used his free leg to kick Sasuke in the face while his hands were occupied, freeing himself of the Uchiha clan prick while said Uchiha went flying away a couple of meters and out of the ring.

"Naruto Uchiha wins the match!" Iruka shouted over the screams of the many females screaming at Naruto, most saying that he definitely cheated or that there's no way that Sasuke had given this spar his all. Naruto had grown used to these shouts and claims from the many times he and Sasuke had sparred. If his memory served correctly, this made it 16-13 in Naruto's favor.

Not that Naruto had counted all the spars that he and Sasuke had ever had. That'd be ridiculous. It was just a habit he had picked up when his only goals were to beat Sasuke and become hokage. Back then, the scores had been drastically different, more around 10-0 in Sasuke's favor. But Naruto had quickly caught up and surpassed Sasuke.

' _DAMMIT, how is he this strong!? I'll never be able to prove myself to Father if I can't even beat this non-Uchiha!'_

Sasuke was trembling as his thoughts grew angrier and angrier, while Naruto merely walked over the fallen student, and held down his hand in a silent offer to help Sasuke up. Black eyes met shining lilac, and Sasuke swatted Naruto's hand away and stood up, walking away from the blond as his fists clenched.

"Alright, everyone back in the classroom, we still have lessons"

Needless to say, most of the students groaned.

Meanwhile, hidden in the trees was a man dressed in a black hooded cloak and a mask. He stood from his spot and disappeared, intent on relaying his findings to Lord Danzo.

 *****8 HOURS UNTIL SHISUI'S DEATH*****

Shisui was waiting outside the academy, nervously tapping his foot while Itachi stood to the side of him, his eyes looking more tired than ever. They watched as the academy students filed out of the building, looking for their chaperons so that they could go back to their regular lives. As he watched them all, Shisui couldn't help but feel angry at many of the civilians, as well as a few of the clan members, as he heard them talk and whisper about Naruto as soon as he was seen walking outside the academy. And once their kids made it to them, he heard nothing but rude comments about how his brother had unfairly beaten Sasuke again in a spar.

No matter what the two of them did, Naruto and Shisui just couldn't get the village to see that Naruto was someone worthy of their respect. The people of Konoha were ignorant and had long since ingrained their hatred for the kyuubi into Naruto. No matter what they did to show them that they were wrong, they continued to treat him unfairly and push their children to feel the same way.

And these were the people that Shisui had been enlisted to save.

"Shisui!" he heard Naruto scream once he spotted his older brother, going into a slight jog until he reached him. "Thanks for picking me up, but I actually have to go meet Mabui at Ichiraku's. Is it okay if I do that?"

Shisui smiled at that, remembering the friend that Naruto had invited to his birthday dinner, and he had thoroughly enjoyed the show. Shisui had made fun of Naruto for Hinata liking him that very same day, and only a couple hours later is Shisui witnessing Naruto with another girl. Not only that, but it seemed that both of them felt similarly. Not that either of them could tell, considering that Naruto was ten and Mabui was only nine, but Shisui could very clearly see both of their cheeks turning red multiple times throughout the night.

Naruto was turning into quite the ladies man indeed. Although Shisui hoped that Naruto would just try and find one girl, instead of going off to try and be a womanizer much like the sannin he had once met and despised.

"That should be fine Naruto, it is her last day after all. Just make sure you two don't blow something up for your date." Shisui said, getting a very big blush from Naruto.

"W-WE'RE NOT DATING SHISUI!" Naruto shouted, his blush taking up his entire face and his voice causing quite a few people to look over to them, particularly one small Hyuga girl. Itachi actually moved away from the two of them when Naruto shouted, causing the blond to look quite sheepish.

"Maybe not now Naruto, but just give it time. Now run along, if you're gonna go hang out with Mabui, then I have some errands I can run." Shisui said as his hands motioned for Naruto to shoo. Naruto gave Shisui a slight glare, but ran off nonetheless.

' _Now, time to prepare for the Kotoamatsukami.'_

 *****WITH NARUTO AT ICHIRAKU'S*****

Naruto sat at the counter inside the ramen stand, his hands fiddling with each other as he waited for his friend to show up. She was only a minute late if the clock on the wall was right, but for some unknown reason Naruto was still nervous. His eyes kept darting back and forth between the entrance of the stand and the clock on the wall.

"Looks like someone's getting nervous," Ayame said from the other side of the counter as she and her father worked on making the noodles. "Is someone a little fidgety for their date today?"

Naruto glared at the older girl, about to state that he and Mabui weren't dating, until something better came to mind. "Oh, yea? And how's asking Shisui out going for you?" he said with a smirk, satisfied when Ayame grew a very embarrassed red face.

"I-It's not my fault that there's never a good time to bring it up! He's just alway so busy!" She shouted, causing Teuchi to look over to the two of them with an amused smile.

"Well he should be at the house, probably preparing for a mission. _Alone._ " Naruto said, the last word with a wink, causing the already red Ayame to start turning new shades of red. "I don't think there could possibly be a better time to set a date with him. Or are you too busy?"

As Ayame started to sputter random sounds and nonsense, Naruto looked off to Teuchi and gave the man a knowing look. Teuchi returned the look with a thumbs up and his signature smile, and joined the unspoken mission.

"Ayame isn't busy at all, isn't that right Ayame?" Teuchi said, sending a sly look towards his daughter. When Ayame looked ready to defend herself, he put in the second part of his plan. "In fact, take the rest of today and tomorrow off Ayame! A girl as young as yourself shouldn't be wasting her time with her old father when the love of her life is all by himself. You have your whole life to make ramen, but you might only have a moment with Shisui!"

"W-WHAT! I never said he was the love of my life! You guys are just making this up now!" Ayame shouted, waving an accusatory ladle against her father. After a moment though, her arm and ladle lowered, and the expression on her face changed to one of nervousness. "Besides, he's a renowned feared by all the elemental nations. Why would he lower himself to a lowly ramen chef?"

"Hey!" Naruto said, quite loudly, getting the attention of both Ichiraku's. "Don't ever say that about yourself Ayame! Any shinobi worth their kunai would be lucky to have you, and appreciate it every day!" Ayame softened at that, and Naruto grew a little calmer. "And if you really need to know, the only reason Shisui hasn't asked you out himself is because he doesn't know how to act around one particular ramen chef he likes."

With that, Ayame's face grew to a new height of excitement and happiness. "You really mean that!?" she said, her face leaning closer to the source of the amazing news, only getting a happy nod from the ten year old blond. "I have to go!" she shouted as she all but leapt over the counter, not even bothering to take off her apron as he ran out of the stall and in the direction of the Uchiha compound.

As she was running off, Mabui finally entered the stall, looking confused by the ramen chef running out of the stall. "Where's she running off to?" the young girl asked simply.

"Nowhere." Teuchi and Naruto both said, sharing a small laugh with each other before Naruto and Mabui decided to order three miso ramen with extra beef.

Each.

 *****WITH SHISUI AND ITACHI*****

Shisui was lying down on the couch of his and Naruto's home, a soft pillow supporting his head, while he and Itachi mentally prepared for the mission that would be occurring in a few hours' time. Shisui was staring at the ceiling, thoughts flowing in and out of his mind faster than he could properly comprehend them, while Itachi was reading Naruto's copy of the Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja, written by the legendary sannin, Jiraiya.

"So I heard Naruto beat Sasuke again in a taijutsu match at the academy," Itachi suddenly said, breaking the older Uchiha out of his thoughts, "am I to assume that his training is coming along well?"

Shisui brought his sight down from the ceiling and looked around the rest of the house, uninterested in it. He had had this house for all of his eighteen years of life, inheriting it from his brother Obito when he had died. Shisui had no memories of Obito, his brother having died when he was only two years old himself, and his parents had been dead for much longer. He had been taken care of by his grandmother, the wife of Kagami Uchiha, who had sadly long outlived her husband, in this house up until he had just barely turned seven years old, when his grandmother had died of old age.

"Yea, it's going great. Naruto had been very skilled with the interceptor fist with only one arm, but he's been working as much as possible over the last couple of day with his new arm. It's just about second nature to him by now. Though he still has a long ways to go before he's up to our level, so we don't need to worry too much right now at least." Shisui remarked, trying to lighten the serious mood by making a small joke, though he imagined that was why Itachi brought up Naruto. Talking about his younger brother always calmed him down.

Shisui remembered asking his grandmother about his older brother and parents quite a bit when he was younger, and from what he had gathered, the world seemed to think that they were insignificant. Despite being the direct son of Kagami Uchiha, his father had never risen above chunin, nor did he desire to, according to his grandmother. And his mother was a simple housewife, who's only dream was to take care of the two children she gave birth too, having sadly died giving birth to him. His father had died in the third shinobi war, being ambushed by ninja from Iwa while saving a squad of genin, which had allowed them to live.

"I see. And how is his shurikenjutsu and kenjutsu training coming along? I'm just hoping I didn't buy him that tanto in vain."

Shisui let out a small laugh at that. Typical of Itachi to think of something like that. "Don't you worry about that, Naruto has been trying to get the hang of using the tanto, but he had always had trouble using weapons other than shuriken and kunai. Naruto's already incredibly skilled with those, but I doubt he'll ever become a master in kenjutsu. It's just not that well suited for him."

Shisui had been grateful when he had first met Kakashi, the owner of Obito's left eye. It had become a lost belief, but Shisui had always liked to hope that Obito's spirit lived on in Kakashi, even if it were just to fill a childhood wish to know his lost brother. And he was especially glad to have taken in Naruto, and be able to have the one thing he always wished he had more than anything.

A family.

"That is alright, many of the greatest shinobi don't use kenjutsu. As long as he is familiar with it, he should be just fine… And of the ninjutsu?"

That was Naruto's greatest weakness in their training so far, and it caused Shisui a great deal of stress just thinking about it. Naruto had so far only mastered the basic academy three and the great fireball jutsu, all with one hand, and all only being accomplished through months of training and practice, and sheer determination and willpower. And ever since he had gotten the wooden arm, it had been driving the two of them crazy that not even with both hands was it getting much better. Shisui had always assumed that it had been the attempt at trying to use one handed seals that prevented Naruto from being able to use ninjutsu, but now, he was stumped.

"No progress so far, and he's still trying to hide the secret training from me. I honestly have no idea what could be the problem, now that he's got the new arm, there shouldn't be anything getting in the way of his chakra flow. But that's not stopping Naruto from trying his damn hardest."

Itachi nodded at Shisui's statement, all the while thinking about his own brother's progress and behavior. "That is a good trait to have," he said in reply after a couple seconds of silence, "if Naruto keeps acting and training like that, he'll surpass us quicker than you might think."

They both stayed silent after that, and both went back into their thought. Although Itachi was reading one of his favorite books, his mind was still focused on his own little brother. Sasuke and Naruto had never been on the greatest of terms, but ever since Naruto had been adopted into the Uchiha clan, and especially since he had risen in skill, Sasuke's dislike for the blond had grown to a level that Itachi had never seen a childhood rivalry go. He was beginning to show signs of darkness, such as his obsession on getting stronger for the sole purpose of putting down an enemy.

It didn't help that Sasuke couldn't handle the fact that Naruto was more skilled in the Uchiha arts than a blood Uchiha was. Naruto had mastered the great fireball jutsu before Sasuke had managed it, and Naruto did it with one hand. That event in particular had caused Sasuke to become more angry than Itachi had ever seen him.

Sasuke was becoming a mirror image of their father, and it was worrying Itachi to no end.

"So how are you handling it?" Itachi asked bluntly, getting to the point that they were so desperately trying to avoid. Shisui's first response was to lose the smile on his face, his eyes going back to the ceiling he was staring at previously.

"How am I supposed to be handling it. We've been trying to stop this revolt for years, and now not only is one of the village elders and his foundation helping the clan with it, but they plan to use my brother to accomplish it? I almost want to abandon the clan at this point.

"But Naruto loves it. The way he sees it, the clan is the reason he's at where he is today. To him, the clan is what gave him a reason to live. Naruto and I are a family because I was part of the Uchiha clan. And whether or not that's true, I will do whatever I can to protect the name of the clan. At the very least, then Naruto can stay proud of the name."

Itachi was once again impressed by the bond his best friend and Naruto shared. There were very few people in this shinobi world that would go so far for someone they weren't even related to, and yet, Shisui and Naruto would go to the ends of hell for each other.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and both Shisui and Itachi looked over, very confused. It was not often that they had visitors, and they couldn't feel a chakra signature off the person at the door, most likely meaning that they were a civilian.

Civilians never visited them.

The two of them walked towards the door, Itachi sticking to walls and roof so as to hide in a position where if need be, he could jump in and assist him with the potentially hostile enemy. They reached the door, and once Shisui was certain that Itachi was hidden, and his left hand could easily reach a kunai if necessary, he opened the door.

"Hey there Shisui!" Ayame said, a little too suddenly and loudly, which startled Shisui ever so slightly, causing him to almost grab a kunai from his pouch. Once he knew who it was, he calmed down immensely. "Hey Ayame, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the shop?" He replied, confused at why she was off work.

"Father gave me a couple days off for… ummmm… working hard the past couple of days, that's it!" Ayame said as Shisui mentally put his hand on his face, while Itachi actually did. They had both learned by now that Ayame was a terrible liar, and it showed. But that was one of the things Shisui liked about her.

"Well why don't you come in, I'll make us some tea. I'm sure you're here to talk about something, and that always goes better with some green tea." Shisui said as he lead her inside the house, walking with her towards the main room after she had taken her shoes off. Itachi remained hidden, opting to figure out what Ayame was here for. It couldn't possibly be what he thought it might be, could it?

Ayame on the other hand, was freaking out. She had been so prepared to just say what she wanted to say quickly and get it over with. But by Shisui inviting her in and making her tea, her plan was being thrown out the window. Now he was going to ask her what she was here for, and she would have to summon the courage to reply to that question by asking for a date.

This was going to be much more difficult than she thought it would be twenty minutes ago.

Ayame was sat down in the main room, watching Shisui prepare the tea through a window to the kitchen, and smiled at the sight. This was an awfully domestic thing to do for a ninja who was feared throughout the entire continent. Although he seemed to be having trouble making it, and when she saw the fire erupt, she ran in and tried her best to help.

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD, WHAT DO I DO!?" Shisui screamed, looking very frightened at the fire, not something Ayame would expect from Shisui of the Body Flicker. She quickly looked around and saw a fire extinguisher, and grabbed it. She pointed the handle towards the fire, and shot the extinguisher at the fire, also getting Shisui a bit in the process.

When the fire was out, Shisui at least looked very sorry and embarrassed at the situation. Rubbing the back of his head, Ayame noting that it must have been something he picked up from Naruto, he gave her the most awkward smile she had ever seen.

"What happened?" Ayame asked, confused at how the fire had originated. Shisui just looked to floor, even more ashamed of how the fire came to be. He eventually said something, although too quietly for the ramen chef to actually hear him. "I'm sorry, what did you say Shisui?"

"... I tried boiling water." He said again, his cheeks reddening at the embarrassing event. Ayame just stared at the boy just a couple years older than her, blinking every so often, before she had to hold back a laugh. It slowly became harder and harder to hold it in, and soon enough, she could be heard laughing from across the street.

"Is this why you and Naruto eat out so much?" Ayame said while holding her stomach, her abdomen aching from how hard she was laughing. Shisui could be seen rubbing his head even more, giving his own embarrassed laugh at the situation. "Yea, I'm no good at cooking. If Naruto and I ever eat in, he's usually the one cooking for us. He's better than you would think."

Ayame continued laughing for at least another minute, Shisui's blush only getting heavier the longer she remained laughing. From his hiding spot, Itachi was smiling much more than usual, glad that the two had found each other. But taking a look at the clock hanging on the wall, he decided that he should probably be heading back to his own house, so as to not raise any more suspicion about what was going to occur in only a couple hours. He would have to find out whether or not Ayame and Shisui would be going on a date later, when he and Shisui met back up.

"Here, why don't we just go back to the living room? I'm sure you didn't come here just to see me burn down the house." Shisui said to Ayame, causing the girl to mellow a little due to the fear of what she came to ask. The two of them walked to the main room, Ayame rubbing her right arm with her left in her own sign of nervousness. They sat on the couches, Shisui waiting for Ayame to start speaking. They sat for a brief moment of silence before Ayame actually started to speak.

"So Shisui, I was kind of wondering if maybe… I don't know, you might want to…Ummm… So you're single, and I'm… I just think that we should… Go…On… A… A… Date."

Shisui had been confused by Ayame's sudden nervousness, but when she had finished her question, he had completely understood. His eyes widened, his body became stiff, and he could feel himself starting to perspire. He awkwardly brought up his hand to the back of his head, and began his own stuttering.

"W-Well, that would b-be g-good, yea. I m-mean, that's only if you a-are really s-sure that you would want to g-go out with me." Shisui stated, his blush taking over the majority of his face while he looked off to the side to avoid eye contact with the Ayame. Ayame on the other hand, light up at Shisui's response.

"R-Really!? You want to go out with me!? Like, on a real date!?" Ayame shouted at Shisui, her shy and timid attitude quickly being replaced by a happy smile and voice. Shisui looked back at the girl, and gave her his own smile. Shisui decided to sum up his shinobi courage, relaxed his shoulders, and let out a slow calming breath through his nose.

"Ayame, I would very much like to go on a date with you." He said, with a soft smile and kind eyes that made Ayame's blush even more prominent on her face. Shisui was very clearly a handsome man, but when he wasn't busy being so serious looking, it was enough to make any girl's heart stop beating.

"So, is tomorrow good? I can pick you up at around, let's say 7 o'clock?" Shisui said, breaking Ayame out of her trance.

"Good, yea, that's good, that's very, very good. I think that would work very well." Ayame responded, trying to calm herself down from the high that was having a date with Shisui.

"Great, I look forward to it." Shisui said, his smile still plastered on his face.

' _Okay,'_ Shisui thought, _'maybe this day isn't totally bad.'_

 *****2 HOURS UNTIL SHISUI'S DEATH*****

Naruto and Mabui were laying down on the ground of one of the more unused training grounds of the village, having just finished practicing some shurikenjutsu with each other, and now opting to look at the stars that the veil of the night brought with it. Mabui was breathing in and out quite heavily, still not used to keeping up with Naruto's godlike stamina even after three days of hanging out with each other. Mabui couldn't even begin to imagine how much stamina Naruto would have once they were real shinobi.

"Hey Mabui," Naruto said to her, causing the young Kumo girl to look over to her friend, "do you know what your dream is? I was talking to Jiji the other day, and he says that all great shinobi have a dream."

Mabui looked back towards the stars and thought on his question. Her father and mother had told her the same thing a couple of times throughout her life, but she had never given it much thought before. Her mother and father were considered decent shinobi, but there were revered as the best diplomates that Kumogakure had to offer. It was for that reason that Mr. Sekiyama had been chosen for the peace talks between Konoha and Kumo, and it was just one more reason that Mabui looked up to her parents.

"I think if I had a dream, it would be to try and bring peace without fighting. Become a diplomate just like my parents, and try bring peace without ever having to lose a life." Mabui said, her bright green eyes looking into the sky, Naruto's own lilac ones mesmerized by what she said. It was a sad truth in the shinobi world that not many people tried to gain peace through negotiation, but rather through their military strength. But here was this little girl who wanted to bring peace with words and kindness, rather than by death and hatred.

That was a dream Naruto could respect.

"What about you Naruto, do you know what your dream is?"

That was a question that Naruto could easily answer, although only if he was sure he could trust the person. Before Shisui had taken Naruto in, all Naruto would ever do is go around proclaiming that he would become the Hokage. Now though, Naruto didn't think he had that desire anymore. Hokage was a position that he quite heavily respected, especially considering his jiji was in that role, but he couldn't picture himself wearing the hat and robes anymore. He had long since adopted a new dream.

"I'm going to become strong enough to make the Uchiha clan proud to have me as a member, even if it's as an unofficial member. I'm gonna make them see that it's not a burden to have me as a member. That way, I can make both the clan, and Shisui, proud to have me."

Mabui nodded at that, and they continued to lay underneath the stars in silence. Naruto talked about Shisui a lot, and Mabui couldn't always relate, considering she was an only child. She knew that Naruto was an orphan, and had only been brothers with Shisui for the past three years, but she still couldn't help but feel a tad jealous that he still had that sibling figure in his life. It was wrong of her, and she knew that, but she couldn't stop herself from wishing that she had someone like Shisui in her life.

The minutes passed in silence, and soon enough Mabui decided that it was best to say goodbye to Naruto now. As much as she didn't want to, she had to begin the return to Kumo with her father tomorrow, and they were leaving pretty early in the morning.

"Ummm, Naruto," she started as she began to stand up, Naruto quickly following suit, "I think I have to go now." Naruto looked down in sadness at that, knowing that once she left, he wouldn't really have any friends again.

"Right, yea, that's probably a good idea. Well, I'm glad that we got to spend the last couple of days together, and I hope to see you in the future." Naruto replied back to her, facing his head back to the ground and sounding about as formal as when they first met, which Mabui came to realize was another sign of nervousness for the blond. Mabui let out a little laugh at that, causing Naruto to look up and see her beautiful smile.

"Don't be so sad Naruto, we're definitely going to be seeing each other again. And we already agreed to write each other letters, remember?" She said to Naruto, causing Naruto to smile back at her. "So just make sure that when we do meet up again, that you're proudly wearing the Konoha hitai-ate."

Naruto gave her a hug after that, and she soon left the training grounds to return to the hotel that she and her father were staying at. Naruto sat back down on the ground, deciding to stay a couple minutes before returning home for the night. He took in the the beautiful sight of the night sky, and was transfixed by the moon.

Naruto remembered from when Shisui had first taken him in, that Shisui would tell him lots of stories and legends that the ancient Uchiha used to believe. One of his favorites was the tale of the Sage of the Six Paths, and how he created the moon to seal the legendary monster known as the Jubi. He then created the creed known as ninshu, which eventually evolved into ninjutsu when people weaponized it.

Suddenly, Naruto could hear rustling in the woods nearby him, and clangs of metal that sounded like kunai hitting each other. Naruto turned to where the sounds originated, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Naruto was about to turn back around, when he heard the sounds again, this time with some movement being made by some bushes and trees. Naruto pulled out his own kunai, deciding to investigate the strange happenings.

Walking over cautiously, holding his kunai in a firm reverse grip, he passed by a few trees and continued a bit into the forest of the training grounds. Naruto saw some kunai marks in the tree, as well as some of the kunai stuck in the trees as well as littered on the ground of the forest. Then out of nowhere, Naruto saw something from the corner of his eye, and turned to deflect a kunai that would have hit him right in the face. The kunai hitting each other cause a loud metal clang to sound all throughout the forest, and with it, Naruto's eyes widened.

Naruto ran quickly behind a tree, recognizing that the sound had most likely given away his position to any fighting shinobi in the area. He tried to control his breathing, making it quieter, and trying to slow down his heart. Naruto hadn't been in a situation like this ever since the beatings stopped when Shisui adopted him. Sad to say though that the instincts associated with it stayed, even after three years of not acting on them.

Naruto stayed still, keeping the kunai ready in his hand and listening to every sound he could. He heard nothing except the wind against his ears and the leaves of the trees rustling with it. Suddenly, Naruto heard all the birds in the tree he was hiding behind fly away… _at the same time._

Before Naruto could even act, he was kicked in the head by one of the mystery shinobi, flying away a couple feet before he was tied up very quickly and blindfolded. His hands and feet were tied separately, and soon he was being carried away through the forest. Naruto could hear others beside the person running with him, and he thought he heard someone following a little way behind. Of course, it was hard to tell with the painful thumping in his head.

Soon enough, Naruto could feel the person carrying him descend from the tree branches down the ground. He could hear the wind rustling again, and soon the others could also be heard, including the one that Naruto suspected was behind the group.

"Stand down, or the Jinchuriki gets it." The man said as Naruto felt a kunai pressed against his neck, almost hard enough to draw blood. Naruto would have cried out to the strange person the man keeping him tied up was talking to, but he was afraid that even if he breathed to much that his neck would be slit. He was far too scared to even think about what Jinchuriki might mean.

Naruto could hear the feet of the someone in front of him shuffle, and the kunai being held against his throat was pressed just a little bit harder. Then, he felt the hold on him loosen, before he fell toward the ground, as he heard the other bodies around him fall as well. Naruto hit the ground with a thud, the second time that had happened today. The ties on Naruto's hands and feet were suddenly cut off, and soon the rest of his body was free. He reached up and grabbed the blindfold around him and pulled it off to see,

"Shisui?"

Shisui was kneeled on the ground looking at Naruto, his eyes looking at the younger boy with the saddest expression Naruto had ever seen on him. Various scratches and spots of dirt were seen on his person, indicating that he had been in a fight, as well as the fact that his hitai-ate was fairly lopsided. His fully matured sharingan was active as well, the frightened expression on his face looking out of place due to the fierce look of the doujutsu.

"I'm so sorry Naruto." Shisui said to his brother, his red eyes tearing up as he closed his eyes tight, letting some of the water trail down his face. "I've failed Naruto, and I'm sorry. But I couldn't save them."

"Exactly right Shisui, but you can still help this village." A voice said from behind Naruto, who spun around to see the entrance of the new figure. Out of the forest walked a man with a bandaged right eye and forehead, shaggy black hair, long dark robes, and a fairly distracting scar on his chin. He walked with a cane in his left hand, though Naruto got the sense that he didn't need it.

"You can save this village by giving your eyes to me. With the power of your Kotoamatsukami, I can save this village, stop the Uchiha from revolting, and make this village strong again. With your death, I can usher in an era of peace."

"How dare you even talk about stopping the clan when you're helping them! Your idea of peace isn't worth dying for, much less living for! And I'll be damned if I let you determine the fate of our clan or the village!" Shisui shouted towards the other man, his sharingan eyes blazing with fury as he prepared himself for another battle with the man. He reached up to his right shoulder and pulled his tanto out, and stood up, standing in front of his younger brother. A second later and Shisui disappeared from his spot in his signature jutsu, to appear behind the elderly man, his tanto stabbing through his heart. The man gasped, before he fell to the ground, exhaling his last breath.

Naruto starred wide eyed at the scene before him, his eyes focused on the dead man only ten meters away from him. Shisui looked tired as he put his tanto back into its sheath. He looked towards his younger brother as he deactivated his sharingan. "His name was Danzo. He was helping the Uchiha plan a coup d'état on the village. And they were going to use you for it."

Just like that, Naruto's mind was thrown for the biggest loop he had experienced. Why would the Uchiha plan a coup d'état? Why was this Danzo guy helping them? And what role did he play in any of this? None of this made any sense!

' _Why would they do this!? The Uchiha are so nice, and strong. A bunch of them have even started to like me. What would make them want to go against the village!?_

"And we still will use Naruto, he will be a tool to help guide this village to peace!"

Naruto whipped his head around at the sudden noise, seeing the man that Shisui had killed standing only a couple meters away from him. He had no visible injuries, and taking a quick glance behind him, Shisui looked just as shocked as he did. Naruto quickly turned back to Danzo, scolding himself for taking his eyes off the enemy.

"Do not underestimate me, Shisui. You cannot understand the power that I have gained. I am taking your eyes and the Kyuubi jinchūriki, with or without your cooperation."

' _Kyuubi jinchuriki!? What's he talking about, the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi during the attack ten years ago. What the hell is a jinchuriki!?'_

"That's an S Rank secret Danzo, you're only giving yourself more reason to be executed!" Shisui shouted, disappearing once again in a shunshin to appear in front of Danzo, which the caused them to initiate a very intense battle. It was much too fast for Naruto to keep up with. Naruto had no idea how such an old looking man could be keeping up with his older brother. He was still confused as to how Danzo had even survived Shisui's initial attack.

Whoever this man was though, he was not good. He clearly had some motives that were less than ideal, and he was trying to get his foster clan to participate in something that was certainly not good for them. But right now, in this moment, he was hurting his older brother, and Naruto had to do something about it.

Naruto brought up his left hand and started going through hand seals with speed not usually found in an academy student. When he had gone through them all, he brought his flesh hand up to his mouth and said, "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" A small stream of fire flowed out of his mouth, and once it had reached a couple meters, expanded into an enormous fireball raging towards the two shinobi. Naruto knew that Shisui would be able to avoid his attack, but hopefully the one non-academy ninjutsu he had mastered would surprise and overwhelm the older man.

Shisui looked over to his left and saw the fire coming towards him and his foe. He let himself feel a little bit of pride at how well Naruto had mastered the clans signature jutsu. But now wasn't the time to dwell on how proud he was of his brother. He had to make sure that Danzo got caught in this.

Shisui shunshined behind Danzo, and with his tanto, severed the tendons in the older man's feet. He made a quick cut along Danzo's back quickly before kicking him down to the ground and teleported out of the way of Naruto's and next to said blond before the fire could harm him. He watched as the red flame engulfed the Konoha elder. He relaxed at seeing the burning corpse of the man, and turned his body to see Naruto. Focused, calm, not afraid to take action. Just some of the things that every shinobi needed.

Suddenly though, Danzo emerged from the flames, his body showing none of the injuries that Shisui had inflicted on him, his cane gone and replaced with a sword that they could only assume that the older man kept it hidden in his cane. He was moving faster than Shisui could have expected, and he was close to Naruto. Too close for Shisui to step in and save him.

The sword Danzo had in his right hand was coming down towards Naruto at speeds that couldn't be rivaled, though that didn't stop Naruto from trying. He brought his left, flesh hand down from his mouth, cancelling the monster of a fire, while bringing the wooden right one up in an attempt to use the steel like strength of the arm to block the sword. In the end, I was futile though.

"AAAAHHH" Naruto screamed in pain as the sword ran across his face, breaking his goggles and cutting from his forehead and over his left eye, cutting into the eyelid and into the bright lilac orb, effectively destroying it. The deep cut ran down from a couple centimeters above the eyebrow and ended next to the middle one of his strange faint whisker marks, already cutting past the highest one. Shisui looked on in horror as his younger brother lost yet another part of his body. And in his distracted state, Danzo took his chance, and lunged his hand towards Shisui's face, and stole his right eye.

It felt horrible, disgusting having his eye pulled right out of his socket. Though Shisui knew that Naruto probably felt far worse than he did. Shisui grabbed Naruto and shunshined away as fast as he could, though in his weakened state, he couldn't get as far away as he would like, still within fighting distance from Danzo. No way that they could get out of this.

"I have taken your eye, Shisui, and I have weakened the Kyuubi. Admit defeat, and I can assure you that your death will help lead this village to an era of peace, and one under the leadership of the Uchiha! This village will become the strongest it has been since its founding! We can bring all the other countries and villages under the banner of Konoha, and bring the entire continent to justice! Just think of how powerful Konoha will be combined with the strength of Iwa, Suna, Kumo, and Kiri, not to mention their secrets and resources!"

Shisui only grew angrier as Danzo continued to speak, busy using what little medical ninjutsu he knew to heal Naruto's eye then best he could. He could heal the cut over his eyelid just a little, and figured that Naruto's incredible healing factor would do the rest. Shisui was sad to internally admit that he didn't think even the Kyuubi could heal his eyes. Almost nothing could repair a destroyed eye.

"What you're suggesting is a complete dictatorship of the entire Great Continent!" Naruto shouted, surprising both his brother, who had pulled away the hand healing him, and the Konoha elder. "Of forcing everyone to give up their ideals and beliefs, just so that you can be put in power! And to do it, you're just tricking the Uchiha clan into working for you, lying to them, making them think that they'll be put in charge instead of you." At least, that was what Naruto could gather from the short exchanges between Shisui and Danzo.

"And I will never let anyone disgrace my clan like that! Not some old bastard like you, and definitely not the Uchiha themselves! I will protect the clan name and legacy from people like you, even if it costs me my life to do so! And I never go back on my word!"

Shisui looked at Naruto, with his bright blond hair and his shining lilac right eye. His left was closed, with a long red cut going down the left side of his face, the mark identical to the one that Kakashi Hatake bore over his left eye. The same mark, as the one who held the spirit of his long dead older brother.

" _Because that's my ninja way!"_

Shisui had heard that with the voices of both his brothers, seeing an image of Obito standing right next to Naruto. His hand was placed on his shoulder, the blue suit that Shisui had always seen in the photos proudly displaying the same Uchiha crest that Naruto now wore. And in that moment, Shisui could see all of them together, and he had what he what he had always desired, and what he would do anything to protect now.

A family

Just as Shisui was getting back into a battle stance, twelve of Danzo's loyal Root Anbu came running into the clearing, surrounding their leader as the all stood ready to defend the old man. Shisui wasn't sure if he could handle all these Root shinobi, especially in his weakened state of being, not to mention that Danzo now had his right sharingan. But he saw Naruto straighten himself out, and getting into the interceptor fist fighting style. And Shisui knew that it was wrong of him to let a child still in the academy participate in a fight of this caliber, but he needed help, and he was confident that Naruto could prove very useful. As long as he kept the fight short.

"Naruto, this is the one time that I'm letting you do this. Keep your distance and use shurikenjutsu. If forced to engage, use only taijutsu. Those are your specialties. Let me do most of the fighting, and I think that we could win this. But whatever you do, stay away from Danzo, and don't let him near the seal on your stomach."

Naruto nodded at what Shisui had said, not voicing his confusion at the last thing that Shisui had said. Even Naruto had no idea what that seal did, only knowing that no matter what he did, he could never make it disappear from his stomach. What could Danzo possibly do with it?

"Alright Shisui, but after this, you will tell me what is going on, right?"

Shisui only smirked, giving Naruto the only answer he needed. Shisui ran off from where he and Naruto were standing. Naruto reached into his shuriken hip pouch and pulled out a dozen shuriken, six in each hand. Once Shisui had reached a respectful distance, Naruto skillfully threw the projectiles, straight at Shisui's back, coming closer and closer to the Uchiha before they suddenly curved around him, fanning out straight towards the twelve Root shinobi that came running towards Shisui, one shuriken for each Anbu. As Naruto expected, each of the Anbu easily blocked the shuriken. And as Naruto had hoped, it had distracted them just barely enough for Shisui to use his signature jutsu, teleporting behind two of the Root almost simultaneously, and stabbing both.

Shisui then engaged the remaining ten of them in an epic battle of kenjutsu and taijutsu unlike anything Naruto had seen in his ten years of life. Naruto had heard stories of Shisui's legendary battle skill, but to see it in person, even if it was not the ideal situation, was something else entirely. Naruto watched in awe as Shisui took down another one of the Anbu, and easily teleported away from another. Without even a single hand sign. Naruto didn't even have that much mastery over the Great Fireball jutsu, something that had taken him months of pain and self-inflicted stress to even pass off as acceptable, and something he had continued practicing for years to get to the mastery he was at now. And he still needed signs to perform it.

It was the most amazing thing that Naruto had ever seen.

Naruto saw one of the shinobi moving in to attack Shisui from behind, and pulled out two kunai, the rings tied together with ninja wire. He threw the two kunai at the Anbu, aimed low towards his legs. The kunai flew on either side of the leg, causing the leg to be caught and dragged by the wire and trip the shinobi. Naruto had to say, it was quite embarrassing that a shinobi of such high caliber was caught in such a simple shurikenjutsu trick.

Naruto watched on as Shisui took care of three more of the Root members, one of which was the one that Naruto had tripped, leaving their numbers at half of what they were when they had arrived there to defend their leader. As Naruto looked at his older brother though, he could see that Shisui was tiring, slowing down just enough for it to be noticeable. The Anbu were beginning to land more hits on him, Shisui gained more cuts and scrapes, and he was no longer able to take any of the enemy shinobi out.

It was while Naruto was distracted that one of the remaining six Root shinobi started running towards Naruto, equipped with two Ninjato. Naruto finally noticed the Anbu coming at him, and with little time to prepare, got into the interceptor fist stance. His true specialty.

The Root shinobi started swinging his swords at Naruto, clearly not in an attempt to kill, but definitely maim. Naruto skillfully evaded most of their attacks, and when he couldn't he used his durable wooden arm to block the blades, the same trick that hadn't worked on the elder man. The interceptor fist was a taijutsu style focused on being able to evade an enemy's attacks, and use them against the opponent, which made it perfect for this situation, in which Naruto only needed to focus on staying alive long enough for Shisui to help him. That being said, Naruto was not perfect in the taijutsu style, and the shinobi managed to get two deep cuts across Naruto's chest, causing Naruto a great deal of pain.

Naruto was in an immense amount of pain, but continued to evade the man's other attacks. Regardless, Naruto knew that he could not remain close to Anbu with these wounds and hope to win, with the pain distracting him too much. In a moment of Naruto's famous (at least around his and Shisui's house) unpredictable moments, Naruto jumped towards his attacker while they were in motion, and positioned himself for his feet to land on the man's chest. The Root Anbu brought one of his ninjato up too block the ten-year-old blond, doing exactly as Naruto wanted. While still in the air, Naruto once again started performing hand signs with his left hand.

Naruto's feet met the flat side of the Anbu's blade, which were then held in place by the mysterious Anbu. Naruto smirked as he his feet were taken captive by the shinobi, thinking back to the spar he had earlier with Sasuke. He let out a huge breath of fire aimed right at the man in front of him, forming a ridiculously large "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Naruto jumped away at the last possible second as the fire engulfed the ground where the man once stood, but kept his guard up, his mind still thinking how the same trick hadn't worked on Danzo. As Naruto landed back on the ground, he noticed that the five shinobi that Shisui had been fighting was now down to three, but also noticed that Danzo was nowhere to be seen. He looked around quickly with his remained right eye, and saw the man once again approaching at speeds that should be impossible to someone so old. Much faster than when he had destroyed Naruto's eye.

Shisui however, saw what was happening, and mentally panicked. Danzo was clearly going for the Kyuubi inside Naruto, and if he got hold of it, then the whole village would be ruined. But Shisui wasn't praised as being as fast as the Yondaime Hokage for nothing, and faster than a blink of an eye, disappeared to Naruto's location. As he reappeared next to Naruto, Shisui was left with his last resort. The tomoe in his left eye began spinning faster, molding together until they formed a four-pointed square looking shape. Similar to that of a very odd-looking shuriken.

Just before Danzo could reach the two, a green, arcane looking ribcage appeared around Naruto and Shisui, glowing green against the darkness that was evening in Konoha. Danzo's hand hit against the ribcage, a couple of his bones breaking from the force at which he hit it. Naruto's eyes widened at the sight, in complete awe of what was around him. Danzo scowled as he comforted his left hand, jumping back away from the two Uchiha.

Meanwhile, the other three Anbu shinobi had started to grow nervous at the sight, and right before their eyes, it started changing. The ribcage started to expand to grow an entire, ominous looking skeleton. And soon after, what looked like muscles started to grow out of nowhere, covering Naruto and Shisui entirely. The being around them had a broad face with angry looking eyes, a large build, and its right arm was holding a sword of sorts, twirling and baring resemblance to a lance or drill.

It was inside the glowing green being that caught Naruto's attention the most. Right above their head was a glowing red tomoe, and soon enough the chest of the humanoid looking being opened up. Shisui stood up straight, his strange sharingan eye spinning ever so slowly as the giant green monster looking thing started radiating some great feeling of power. And in a single moment, green beams shot out of the opened chest, quickly getting rid of the remaining Anbu, leaving only the elderly leader of the Root standing.

"This is it Danzo. This is the true power of the Uchiha. With this blade, comes your eternal demise." Shisui proclaimed, the ethereal being raising up its swirling blade as it prepared to attack it's enemy. Unknown to the three of them, someone else was watching the battle from afar, and was wide eyed at the blade that was in the beings' hand.

' _The Gohei!? Has it been in Shisui's possession this entire time? … Ku ku ku, if only such a talented Uchiha wasn't going to die today. He certainly would be a good body to inhabit'._

Danzo looked at the attack that was coming his way, and knew that although weakened, if he continued to fight Shisui while he was using Susanoo, his Izanagi would eventually run out. He was lucky enough to be able to gather the sharingan that he had right now over the last decade, and he couldn't avoid to waste them unless any more Uchiha were to die. He would have to retreat, although with the acquisition of the Kotoamatsukami, this could still be considered a success.

The lance like weapon that the Susanoo was wielding started spinning in its right hand, and pierced where Danzo once stood. Danzo had already disappeared by then, but Shisui kept up his technique for a minute, making sure that the elderly man was gone before the green being faded away. Shisui started breathing in and out quite heavily, as he wiped his forehead free of sweat. And after a couple of deep breaths, he fell down.

"Shisui!" Naruto screamed as he caught the older Uchiha right before he hit the ground. "Oh Kami, what do I do?" Naruto laid Shisui down on the ground and brought his fingers to his neck, relieved to find that there was still a pulse. He was trying to figure out what to do next when he saw someone jump into the field. As they ran towards the two of them, Naruto pulled out a kunai and jumped towards the figure as they neared him.

"Naruto, it's just me!" Itachi said as he evaded Naruto's kunai swing, but Naruto didn't stop attacking the long haired Uchiha. Itachi kept dodging the smaller blond until he eventually put Naruto in hold, keeping the distressed kid from attacking him any longer. "Naruto, you need to calm down. We need to get Shisui somewhere away from here and treat him. We can't do that if you're trying to kill me."

Naruto struggled to get out of the hold Itachi had him in, before he gave up. Instead, Naruto asked him a question. "What did Itachi get me for my eighth birthday?"

Itachi was a little confused by the question, but then he knew what Naruto was trying to do. Anybody with even the smallest amount of sense knew that even the most basic of genin could impersonate someone else. Naruto was making sure that Itachi really was Itachi.

"I got Naruto a pair of sandals that were two sizes too big."

Naruto let out a breath of relief at Itachi's answer, but still had to make absolute certain. "What color were they?"

"… Pink."

Naruto relaxed his entire body after that, knowing that only Itachi or somebody very close to them would know that. It was the only prank Naruto had ever witnessed Itachi participate in, and was a very fond memory of his.

"Itachi, you need to help me." Naruto said once Itachi released him, his right eye crying while his destroyed left eye still sat closed. "I don't know what was going on, other than Shisui was trying to stop some coup by the Uchiha. But this Danzo guy stole Shisui's right eye, and we had to fight these Anbu guys, and I don't know what to do!" Naruto yelled as his eye spilled tears. His arms were shaking, and his breathing was fast and irregular.

So Itachi did the one thing that could calm Naruto down.

He knocked him out.

 *****AT THE WATERFALL – MINUTES UNTIL SHISUI'S DEATH*****

Naruto groaned as he sat up, his chest and eye screaming in pain as he did so. He opened his right eye and looked down at his chest, seeing the wound that was there. He had always had an extremely fast healing factor, but he knew that for cuts like these it would take him a few hours, and sometimes a hospital to heal. He touched his two sword injuries and hissed at the pain that came with it. That would certainly take a while to get better.

He looked around where he was and saw that Shisui was also sat up, with Itachi's hands glowing green as he did a final check up on his cousin's health. Naruto could see that the two of them were talking in whispers, but Naruto didn't care. All that mattered at the moment was that his big brother was okay.

"Shisui!" Naruto called out as he stood up, ignoring the intense pain his body was in, and ran over to the two men. Shisui immediately looked very worried for Naruto, and stood up to get to him.

"Naruto, you shouldn't be standing up and running just yet. Look at yourself, you need to rest and get to the hospital." Shisui said as Naruto got to his brother. Shisui knelt down to look Naruto over, and cursed to himself when he saw the cut that Danzo gave Naruto. "You need to get your eye looked over, that's not going to heal."

"Yea, you're one to talk Shisui." Naruto joked, bringing a little humor to a situation that very much needed it right now. Shisui gave Naruto a small smile, happy that Naruto was able to come out of that situation well enough to still make jokes, even if Itachi had said Naruto was having a panic attack before he brought them here.

He hoped Naruto would be able to do that after Shisui did what he needed to do.

"So… I promised you answers, right?" Shisui said, his expression sad as he knew what he would have to do. "Naruto, you know from the fight that the Uchiha were planning a coup d'état against the village. The Uchiha felt that the village was oppressing them after the Kyuubi attack ten years ago, especially because there are suspicions that the Uchiha were involved in the attack."

Naruto looked at Shisui wide eyed at that, shocked by the news that the Uchiha were feeling discriminated against. "What do you mean, there's no way that can be true. The Uchiha were only making sure that all the civilians were safe, and by then the Kyuubi was killed. Everyone respects the Uchiha, they were put in charge of the Police Force… Why would they do that?"

"When people are hated, they tend to hate in return. And the Uchiha are very good at feeling hate." Shisui said, hating the look in Naruto's eyes at the information. "But the important thing, is that they were going to use you to do it."

Naruto looked a little confused, but the downfallen expression on his face remained. "What do I have to do with it, I'm still in the academy. I'd be useless in a coup." Naruto tried to reason, and now Shisui knew that there was no way that he could back out now.

"Maybe it would be best if I were to show you, Naruto." Shisui said, and before Naruto could do anything about it, Shisui used his sharingan, and went into the mystery that was Naruto's mind.

 *****NATURO'S MINDSCAPE*****

Naruto looked around wherever it was that Shisui had taken him, and was confused by what was around him. It looked like a large sewer, with tall stone and concrete walls and ceiling similar to that of a tunnel. His feet were submerged in water, but he couldn't feel it. Even when he dipped his hands in it, it was as if the water wasn't even there. But up on the ceiling, there were two transparent pipes that were both leading down the tunnel.

They were both very large, and seemed to be carrying some sort of strange liquids in them. The one on his left was very large, probably twice his height in diameter, and was carrying a blue liquid that seemed to be bubbling ever so slightly as it traveled away from the direction the tunnel lead. The second one was more than three times the size of the first one, and held a rather violently bubbling red substance as opposed to the calmer blue one.

Naruto watched the two pipes in awe, enamored with the red and blue substances. And every so often, he would see a little bit of the red liquid leak into the blue pipe, creating a new, tiny spot of purple in the blue pipe, before the blue overtook it. Naruto swore that it was crazy, but every time that happened, it almost seemed like the blue pipe got… bigger.

"That's your chakra. Keep in mind that it's not actually your chakra, just… What your mind imagines as your chakra. That doesn't mean it can't be affected by what you do here. It's confusing, but let's just say that this place is both real, and imaginative."

Naruto looked off to his side to see Shisui right beside him, looking just as beat up in here as he did in the real world. Not that he wasn't any better himself. Shisui started walking forward, walking without a care for his condition. Naruto followed shortly behind him, trusting that Shisui knew what he was doing.

They walked in silence, and Naruto looked around to see that there were many doors in whatever sewer tunnel they were in. Each one looked like a steel door that was used to hold up high security prisoners. There were so many of them, but Shisui kept walking, so Naruto didn't have time to look into any of them. But with everyone that they passed, Naruto could feel something from them. He'd pass by one and would feel happiness coming out of it. But with the next he would feel terrified, even though there was no threat around him.

And one that he felt often was pain.

The pain that he had felt almost constantly before he had a family.

Eventually, there were no more doors, and Naruto could see a large room at the end of the long tunnel that they had walked down. As they entered, Naruto looked to the ceiling of the room, and felt so small when he did. There were two large bared gate doors, with a piece of paper on them that was too small for Naruto to read with only one eye. It was too dark to see what was behind that gates, but Naruto didn't care about that.

Below the floor where he and Shisui were standing, was a magnificent, swirling, enormous pool of the blue and red chakra that was in the pipes that lead away from where the two of them currently were. It seemed endless, the amount of whatever liquid it was going further down until it reached eternity. It was swirling and mixing around in a beautiful display, sometimes creating the same purple color that he had seen in the pipes.

It was the second most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

" _ **What is Uchiha filth like you doing here, maggot!"**_ a deep, thundering voice yelled at the two of them, startling Naruto to look away from the infinite pool of chakra and towards the cage where the voice came from. Naruto could see a vague shadow of whatever was prisoner inside it, and was shocked just by the size of it. It was easily as large as the Hokage monument, and Naruto could tell that it was not friendly.

"All I need is to show you to Naruto. Sorry, but you're not getting out of here today." Shisui replied to the mysterious voice. Naruto looked to Shisui, confused that his older brother knew whatever it was that was in the cage.

"Naruto, you remember learning about the Kyuubi attack that happened the years ago, right?" Naruto nodded, confused once again.

"Yea, they say that the Kyuubi just came out of nowhere. It could have been an attack from another village, but there's no evidence of it. But the Yondaime Hokage killed the Kyuubi, so what's the point."

A growl was heard from inside the cage, and the Shadow moved closer to the gates. _**"I can't believe my jailer is actually stupid enough to believe that the Yondaime could kill such a powerful being as myself. Why did that damn Hokage seal me into such a failure?"**_

Naruto listened to the voice, suddenly feeling the malicious and angry chakra that whatever it was, was releasing. Some more of the rub bubbling chakra was flowing out of the cage, and Naruto could see the entirety of the thing inside the cage. It had orange fur, red slit eyes, and nine long, waving tails behind it.

The Kyuubi.

"Wait, wh-what are you doing here? You're dead, the Yondaime killed you. Why are you in my mind?" Naruto looked at the enormous monster in fear, his eyes widening at the monster that was responsible for the death of over half of the shinobi forces when it had appeared. The nine tailed monster only smirked at the sight of a terrified child, standing himself up taller.

" _ **YOU IGNORANT BRAT!"**_ the Kyuubi yelled, causing Naruto to back away from the cage. _**"You cannot kill a biju! We are immortal masses of chakra. No, the Yondaime didn't kill me, he simply couldn't.**_

" _ **He sealed me inside of you."**_

The words rang inside the blond's head, over and over and over and over again. _He sealed me inside of you. He sealed me inside of you. He sealed me inside of you._ Each time it ran through his head, it became louder and louder and _louder_ and _**LOUDER!**_ His head was ringing, each thought shaking his head as if he were next to the biggest bell in the world. The world, or whatever the hell this place was, was spinning. He was getting dizzy, feeling like he was going to fall down, but he wasn't moving, Moving, but stationary. It was the most horrible feeling he had ever experienced.

But then everything was clear.

Everything the villagers had said about him, all the beatings that he had suffered through. All the things that the people of this goddamned village had said about him, called him, to his face and behind his back. Demon, Fox, Monster, Menace, Murderer. It all made sense. And it gave him a sense of calm, knowing why they would say those things. Why they had told their children to stay away from him, and why almost all the instructors at the academy treated him so poorly.

Because he was all of those. He was a demon, he was the fox, he was a monster, he was a menace, and he was a murder. They were right, everything that they had done was right. He deserved to be killed, he deserved much more than anything they had done to him.

" _ **You should just die."**_

 *****BACK IN THE REAL WORLD*****

Shisui looked at Naruto as the young blond stared off into space. He had taken them out of Naruto's mindscape for almost a minute now, but Naruto gave no sign that he was paying attention to what was going on around him. Shisui wished he didn't have to take Naruto there, and know what it was that he held, but it was for his safety that Shisui had to. He knew what he had to do by now, and if Naruto was left ignorant, it would only leave him vulnerable.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Shisui asked when the silence between the two only grow. Naruto finally moved his eye to look Shisui in his, and he could see in Naruto's one eye something that nobody should have at their age. A look of emptiness and despair.

"The fox is right." The blond said as his eye started to water. "The fox and the villagers are right. I should be dead. I'm a monster."

Shisui broke a little bit when he heard his little brother say that. He knew that the villagers had an enormous effect on Naruto, but he hoped that this would never happen. He needed to stop this way of thinking for Naruto, before it became too late for him.

"Don't you ever say that, Naruto." Shisui said to him, his kind face gone in replace of a stern one. "You are not the monster. The Kyuubi is the monster, not you. You're the hero."

Naruto looked up to his older brother, his bright lilac eye looking dull as tears leaked out, running down his cheek. He looked so lifeless, just as bad as he had looked at times when Shisui had first adopted him. Shisui had vowed those years ago to make sure that Naruto never looked like that again. And he never went back on his word, because that's his ninja way.

 _It was._

"Naruto, if you seal a kunai into a scroll, does the scroll become the kunai?" Shisui asked Naruto, to which Naruto looked slightly confused. "No, the scroll just holds the kunai using fuinjutsu. What does that have to do with this, Shisui?"

"Everything, Naruto. This is no different. That seal, on your stomach. That's the scroll. And the kyuubi is the kunai."

Naruto looked at Shisui, his eyes different than they were, if only slightly. "If I'm not the kyuubi, then why do the villagers treat me the way that they do?"

Shisui knew why they saw him like that. The kyuubi was responsible for the deaths of over one third of the entire Konoha shinobi force, not to mention about an eighth of the civilian population. And the art of fuinjutsu was a vastly complicated one, some considering it a lost art. There was only a handful of true fuinjutsu masters left, and one of them was no longer loyal to Konoha. So it made sense that the village wouldn't completely understand that Naruto wasn't the monster they made him out to be. But beating a child within an inch of death, crippling him, leading him to thoughts of suicide was beyond forgiveness.

And Shisui would never forgive them.

"Shisui, it's getting late. We need to report to Lord Hokage. It's only a matter of time before Danzo tries to do something with your sharingan. We can still stop him, but we have to move quickly."

Itachi looked serious as he said that a little distance from the two, his silky black hair falling past his distraught eyes. Shisui could tell that Itachi was doing everything in his power to try and save the clan. Shisui admired the courage that Itachi held, but he knew that it couldn't happen. Shisui still had the kotoamatsukami, and all the evidence to get Danzo executed for treason, but Danzo wouldn't let that happen. And Shisui couldn't risk Danzo sending out Root agents to hurt Naruto because of that. No, at least for now, they had to appease Danzo. But Shisui could still help out. By giving Naruto and Shisui exactly what they need to be able to fight against Danzo.

The mangekyou sharingan.

"I'm sorry Itachi, but that not's going to happen." There were two looks of confusion directed at Shisui as the oldest Uchiha straightened himself up and started walking over to the Uchiha clan heir. "We can't have the Hokage do anything about this. If the hokage were to act on this, you know that he would probably do anything in his power to get Naruto before making his escape out of Konoha. In order for Naruto to be kept safe, we need to make Danzo feel safe. The second he feels like he's under attack again, he'll become desperate, and do anything in order to achieve his goal."

Shisui looked a bit more understanding, though it was clear he didn't like it. Shisui had been friends with Itachi for almost ten years, and at only fifteen did Itachi look more old and tired than almost any other shinobi that Shisui knew. Shisui looked over to Naruto to see him looking conflicted, and still in a similar state of internal agony.

Shisui hoped that Naruto was strong enough to handle what he was going to have to do. Shisui knew that if it were the other way around, he wouldn't be strong enough.

But there was still one thing that Shisui needed to do before that.

"Naruto," he called out to the blond, getting his attention and causing the injured boy to walk over to his older brother, "I have one last gift for you." Naruto and Itachi both looked confused by that, as Shisui knelt down so as to be at eye level with his younger brother, looked at Naruto's face for a long couple of seconds. Naruto was about to speak up, when Shisui took Naruto's left hand with his right, and his left hand reached up to his face.

"Shisui, what the hell are you doing!?" Naruto yelled as Shisui reached into the eye socket, and took a couple of seconds to skillfully pull the eye out of his head, his hand coated with a thin layer of medical chakra to ease the pain and make the process easier. It was finally pulled out by him, and now Shisui would never be able to look upon the face of his younger brother again.

"Shisui, what are you doing?" Naruto replied tearfully as Shisui took the eye that he now held, and placed it into Naruto's left hand, sealing his fate. "You're going to need that. You need to be able to see if you're going to help us."

"I'm not going to be helping you, Naruto. At least, not in person. I can't do anything more to help, and what I can do would only put you and Itachi in danger. There's only one thing I can do left to help you two, and that's going to be my gift to you."

As Shisui stood up from where he was kneeling, and walked to the edge of the land they were on, only one step away from falling to what would surely result in his death. "Itachi, Danzo has the kotoamatsukami in my right eye. And the only way that I can be sure that the two of you have something that can resist his mangekyou, is by giving you your own."

Itachi looked at Shisui, his eyes widening, while Naruto looked at his older brother, a feeling of dread creeping up on him as he looked towards his newly blind brother. "Itachi, what's Shisui talking about?" All Naruto received in return was silence from the two of them. "Why won't you two tell me what's going on!"

Itachi looked at the blond, who was looking quite afraid at what was unfolding before him. Naruto knew what was happening, but what Itachi could tell was truly bothering him was that he didn't understand why. Itachi could completely understand why Naruto was under such distress. This was most likely the worst day that Naruto has ever lived through, and Naruto had been through quite a lot before Shisui came along. Naruto had taken his first life today, and that would take its toll on anyone just by itself. There was just too much to process.

And now Naruto had to watch his older brother, his only true family member, commit suicide.

"Naruto," Shisui began, "I need you to see this." He said, as his own voice started breaking. If he could possible cry, he would be. "I need you to see this, and know that I don't want to do this, brother. I want to see you grow up, and become the greatest shinobi the Uchiha clan has ever seen. And I need you to know that I love you, and that I will always love you. Even in death."

Shisui stepped off the edge of the cliff, and everything went silent to Naruto. There were no sounds made, no smells to take not of, nothing to see, even as Shisui took the hand with the one last piece of Shisui they had left, and did whatever he did to Naruto's eye. Nothing mattered anymore. His left eye burned as Naruto felt it being removed and replaced, and as he felt the blood dripping down his cheek, he could feel something strange happening to what he had recognized as his chakra. But it didn't matter.

Shisui was dead.

 *****SHISUI'S/NARUTO'S HOUSE*****

Itachi had just dropped Naruto off at the hospital, with his own small battalion of loyal and strong Anbu for protection around his hospital room, when he walked into Shisui's house. Well, it was technically Naruto's now, assuming that Shisui left it to him in the will, which Itachi knew he did. Chances are that Shisui left Naruto everything.

He took his time looking around the dark house, seeing no reason to turn on a light after what had happened not an hour ago. He didn't need a light, no point in one when you feel like you're living in eternal darkness. He looked at the simple décor of the house, with almost nothing more than the necessities. The only thing that truly set this home apart was the enormous number of pictures hanging on the wall. There were some that Itachi had recognized as being up there as long as he had known Shisui, pictures of his long-lost mother, father, and biological brother. A couple with him and his grandmother before she had died. But the vast majority of the photos had only been added sometime in the last three years, and all of them included one blond who seemed to brighten up the world, no matter who he has talking to.

Itachi walked as he looked over all the photos, seeing the development in Naruto as the years passed. He looked on at pictures of the two of them eating at Ichiraku's, training their asses of in a field, or one particularly humorous one of Naruto desperately trying to teach Shisui how to make fried rice without burning the house down or accidentally poisoning someone. And then there was the most recent one, a picture of the two of them side by side in Naruto's hospital room, showcasing the brand new wooden arm that Naruto had only recently acquired.

Itachi had seen lots of these moments, having to be the one to sneak the pictures his fair share of times, and it had always been something he treasured. There were very few people who shared a bond like Naruto and Shisui. And now, that bond was gone.

" _All because that fucker had to go and kill himself"_

Itachi walked up past the wall of pictures and down a small hallway before turning into a room. This was Shisui's office, or at least where Shisui filled out his mission reports. The room was too messy to be used for anything else. That was the way Shisui was. Always concerned about the state of Naruto's room, yet he himself had a whole room that looks like it had been robbed.

Itachi walked over to the cluttered desk, and scanned the rows of scrolls that were kept there before he planted his eyes on the one that he needed to get. By Shisui's instructions, it was only to be used if a situation like this rose up. Itachi grabbed it and walked out, placing the scroll titled _For Naruto_ in his hip pouch before he left the house, and made his way back to his own home.

 *****AUTHORS NOTE*****

 **So we're finally reaching a point in the story where we're actually moving forward. I do apologize that it's been taking so long, but I am trying to make the story a bit more than an action thriller or romance fic. But thank you for sticking with it, and I hope that the story will continue to be a good read.**

 **Before anyone comments about this, I know I know, I am making Naruto very much alike to Kakashi, but believe me, this all has a purpose in the story. If you just stick with it, I think you'll really appreciate it.**

 **I have looked and read all the comments, and I've read some great ones concerning the rinnegan in the story. I will be carefully thinking about it, and you are all encouraged to continue voicing your thoughts about it.**

 **Until next time**


	5. Chapter 5: Without Shisui

The Kumo Sharingan

Chapter 5: Without Shisui

 *****QUICK NOTE*****

So I just wanted to clear up something that I noticed might be quite misleading. When I said in the description that it would be a bad Sakura, I did not mean evil. The word that best describe it would be bashing, I guess. I was just trying to say that Sakura isn't nice, and won't be easily redeemed.

 *****START*****

The air was getting thinner as Naruto continued to make his way up the mountain range. He was cold, as he pulled his thick black cloak tighter around him in the mid November air, his untamed wavy blond hair flowing in the wind, occasionally getting in the way of his eyes, the right one a brilliant lilac, shining as brightly as the sun. The left however, was a bright and shining red, as if kami himself had taken a red ruby and chiseled it into his eye. He had been on the move away from Konoha for just under a month now, and Naruto was eager to get somewhere where he could have a shower regularly again.

He would give so much to be in one Kaminari no Kuni's famous hot springs right now.

Naruto was clothed in simple long black pants and a long sleeved black shirt, with an older style of shinobi sandal that was used frequently during the warring clans era, which was much more open, exposing the feet. A black cloak was hanging loosely from his shoulders, shaking every so often with the rest of his body as he occasionally shivered. And wrapped around his neck over the cloak, was the bright red scarf that Hinata had gotten him for his birthday.

As Naruto reached the peak of the mountain on the long range that he was currently climbing, he looked over the landscape, and saw exactly what he was going towards. In a valley, completely surrounded by the mountains, was a large village. The buildings were tall, unlike the buildings in Konoha. Many of the buildings were built into the sides of hills and mountains, and were much more modern looking than the more traditional style that Naruto was used to. There was a number of large rivers that were running through the massive village. And on the outskirts of the village, where there were less buildings, was an enormous lake.

The blond smiled as he looked upon the hidden village, glad to have finally arrived after a month of traveling. Naruto was glad to have mastered the basic academy three jutsu, as he had to use the henge multiple times in the larger settlements to avoid being noticed till he reached this supposed safe haven. There was very little information that Naruto was given, but it was Shisui who had made this contingency plan. Apparently there were connections here that Shisui had, most importantly someone named B. Naruto didn't understand, but this was the best plan there was.

Naruto started making his way towards the village, his emotions predominately relieved, as he was ready to finally rest. But he was largely concerned. Konoha had not been the nicest to him, particularly recently, but Naruto was unsure that this village would treat him any differently. Either way, this village didn't have the Uchiha clan.

How was Naruto supposed to make them proud of him when we was exiled from them?

But at the very least, he would be able to see Mabui. And who knows, maybe things could be better in the new village?

 *****ONE MONTH AGO, DAY AFTER SHISUI'S DEATH*****

Kakashi was sitting in the silent room, in the chair set next to the hospital bed. His head was buried in his favorite Icha Icha book, but his eyes weren't moving, and he had been on the same page for quite a while. Lord Hokage had come into the room about an hour ago, and stayed for a half hour, before his secretary had run in telling him about an emergency council meeting that he had to be at. Hiruzen had tried to get out of it, but the meeting was about the very reason both of them had come in the first place.

The blond haired orphan in the bed next to him. The one who only at the age of ten has experienced more pain than even a fair amount of shinobi do. The blond that had just received three new scars that none of the doctors could explain, one in the exact place that Kakashi had his own. And the new wielder of the sharingan.

Naruto was becoming too much like Kakashi, and that thought scared Kakashi more than almost anything else.

The door opened once again, prompting Kakashi to close the useless book and look over to Itachi, looking more dead than Kakashi had ever seen the Anbu captain. His eyes were red and swollen, and his face was void of emotion. He walked in and went straight to the chair on the other side of Naruto's bed, and sat down. Kakashi didn't start a conversation, knowing that Itachi would speak when he needed to. The two of them had always been close, ever since Kakashi had been Itachi's Anbu captain. If Itachi had something to say, he would.

"Shisui made it look like suicide." Itachi suddenly said, shocking Kakashi ever so slightly. From what information he had recieved from Lord Hokage, which was given with the utmost trust that Kakashi would never reveal what he was told, if word got out that Danzo was responsible for the events that had happened, especially in the death of an Uchiha, the Uchiha would start a civil war. And as much as they all wished Danzo no longer existed, or how cruel his actions were, he was necessary to keep the peace.

The second he wasn't though, Kakashi wanted to be the one who personally set him aflame.

"How did he explain Naruto's new sharingan?" he asked. Kakashi knew what could happen if anyone other than an Uchiha, or in Naruto's case a non-blood Uchiha, obtained a sharingan. When Obito had given him his sharingan, there were many who claimed that he had killed Obito for it. He didn't want that to happen for Naruto, but it was inevitable.

"He said that he placed it in Naruto in his sleep, after some drunken villagers had attacked Naruto and destroyed his eye, in the hopes that it would finally make the clan realize that Naruto is a true Uchiha, and deserves to be an official member of the clan." Itachi smiled just the tiniest bit as looked at the sleeping form of Naruto. "Even in death, Shisui was trying his hardest to give Naruto everything he wanted."

Kakashi smiled at that thought, though it was difficult to tell with his ever present face mask. "There are still going to be issues. From what I could gather, father still had no intention of declaring Naruto an official Uchiha. And there were a couple Uchiha that were calling for Naruto's execution. It's not looking good for him."

"There's still all the contingency plans that Shisui put in place in these events. He was prepared for everything, wasn't he?" Kakashi asked, looking over to Itachi to see him nodding. "Forgive me for asking, but how did Shisui know he was going to give Naruto his eye? Surely that wasn't in his grand plan."

Itachi stayed silent for some moments, before speaking again. "Even I don't know. He said nothing about it during our talks at the waterfall. It's possible that he sent a clone out to do it during his fight with the root. But unless Naruto saw him do that, I don't think we can ever know for sure."

Kakashi looked back at the sleeping form of Naruto, noticing tears falling down his eyes, nearing his ear due to the position he was currently in. His face looked pain, and after some tears had been shed, he saw a drip of blood leak out from the left eye. Seconds later, a twitch was seen, and soon Naruto started jolting and twitching like he had lightning running through him.

"Get a doctor in here, now!" Kakashi yelled out into the hallway as he and Itachi sprung into action, prompting a group of giggling nurses to look over at him confused and nervous. "Now!" he yelled again, with an angrier voice this time, and the nurses started running immediately after, hopefully in search of a doctor.

Kakashi ran back into the room, looked over at Itachi as he watched the fifteen year old Uchiha do what he could to keep Naruto from falling off the bed onto the hospital floor. Just short of a minute after, two doctors came rushing into the room, one more than Kakashi had requested, and yelled at the two of them to leave the room while they and a couple of nurses who ran in shortly after started their best to treat Naruto.

The two of them took the seats outside the door while they sat and thought about the child inside the room. "Did anything like that happen to you when you got your sharingan?" Itachi asked the man next to him. Kakashi didn't bother looking over, knowing that Itachi probably wasn't looking at him either. Both were too wrapped up in their own thoughts.

"My eye felt like it was burning every couple of hours for the first couple of weeks that it was in me. There was one time that my eye bled. But nothing close to what that looked like. I can't even think of what that might be." Kakashi replied back his former Anbu teammate. Itachi looked at Kakashi, his eyes dark and serious, rather than the calm expression he usually wore.

"Kakashi, I need you to answer this honestly. Please?" Itachi asked very suddenly, shocking the older man. Itachi was never one for acting so intense, and usually didn't emphasize what he said. Kakashi nodded, silently, not having a clue as to what Itachi was about to ask, but feeling like he might not like it.

"Kakashi… How much do you know about the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans?"

 *****AT THE ACADEMY*****

Hinata looked over to the seat two spaces to her right, in the back corner of the room right next to Naruto's favorite window. It was well over an hour into the lessons, and Naruto had yet to show up to classes. She knew that she shouldn't be worried, he was probably just a bit under the weather after all. But every now and then, she would hear one of the other clan children, often Ino, being the gossip that she is, whisper something about her blond to another student. In such a short amount of time, most of the students seemed to be talking about something concerning Naruto.

Hinata focused back up front, and could tell that Iruka was noticing the same thing that she was. He looked a little more distressed than usual, and even while he was in his famous lecture mode, Hinata noticed him subtly listening in on the conversations of his students. Hinata knew that Iruka and Naruto had been close, they have been ever since the first year of the academy. It wasn't difficult to see, but most of the other kids in the academy ignored that fact. But Hinata could see how proud and stress free Iruka had become once Naruto started taking the academy seriously and while Naruto was quickly climbing towards the top of the class.

Technically, Sasuke was still at the top of the class. The academy only taught the three basic ninjutsu, but they still gave extra marks for students who knew more than those ones. It was the only thing holding Naruto from top place in the academy. He had the basic three mastered, and had done it while he still only had his left arm, though the head teachers refused to give him extra marks for that, no matter how much Shisui and Iruka had demanded they do.

And Naruto had never shown anyone his great fireball jutsu, other than when he had showed it off to Sasuke, which resulted in the moody Uchiha being even more moody for the next couple of weeks. Hinata had seen it performed many times though, and had been there when he first mastered it. It had taken him years of practice, but Naruto looked so happy in that moment. It was worth it, and Hinata was glad that she was there to see it. Though it would have been better if Naruto had known that she was there.

"You are worried about Naruto." Shino said next to her, shocking her out of the trance she was in while focusing on the seat next to the quiet insect lover. "It is most unusual for Naruto to be absent from the academy, and my bikochu are hearing some strange rumors about Naruto. Iruka is also more tense and reserved than usual, and is for once not yelling at the students for talking. Something is most definitely wrong."

Shino talked in the way he always did, monotone, and straight to the point. Shino was never one for jokes, so that only made what he was saying that much worse. And so Hinata grew even more worried, not even bothering to try and take her eyes off of Naruto's unofficial seat. The lunch break eventually came, but Hinata didn't move from her seat, and only picked at the food she had brought from home. When class resumed, there was a different man teaching, and Hinata could hear more rumors saying something about Iruka running away from the academy shortly after the break had started. Hinata already knew where he was going, and if she had the courage she so desperately desired, she would be going there as well.

 *****THE HOSPITAL*****

Iruka looked down at the sleeping body of his favorite student, along side the returned Hokage. His little brother, who had gone through so much already. He looked down at the scars on Naruto's body, the ones nobody could explain. The two sword wounds going diagonally down his chest, parallel to each other as they travelled from the top left of his chest down to the bottom right of his hip. The scars had just barely missed the seal on his stomach.

"He hasn't woken up since he was brought here?" he asked, the question directed to the Hokage and famous Kakashi Hatake standing nearby him. Apparently Itachi had been there earlier, but had left to go talk to his father when he had heard that they had gotten out of their meeting. The three of them could only guess what he was going to talk to his father about.

"No, he hasn't woken up once. There was the moment when… something happened. It was similar to a seizure, but there was nothing that should have caused it. Whatever it was, he didn't wake up during it." Kakashi said as he continued to look down at the ten year old blond. He had spent the entire day here so far, looking down at the kid with the impossible scars, one of them matching his own. It was like the universe was taunting him, taking the one child he cared about most, and shaping him into the next Kakashi. It felt wrong.

"And the councils? What do they have to say about him? There must be something that you could have done to help Naruto." Iruka asked, this time the questions being directed towards the Hokage alone. Hiruzen Sarutobi looked as if he had aged even more after those questions were asked. He felt for the chair behind him as he made to sit down in it. Looking over towards him, Kakashi and Iruka both followed his lead, grabbing the chair that Kakashi was sitting in earlier and the extra one that the nurse had brought in when Iruka had come here.

"The civilian council… is calling for Naruto's execution. They claim that because Naruto is the 'top suspect' in the case of Shisui's murder, that no chances can be taken, and that Naruto must be terminated as soon as possible. The suicide note that Shisui left is being almost completely ignored."

There was silence after that, as both Iruka and Kakashi tightened their fists in anger. The civilian council had once been used solely in times of war, and for the express purpose of keeping daily affairs in order while the shinobi council focused on the war. But in the last war, they had grown power hungry, and had passed many laws to secure their place, importance, and power in the village, even during times of peace. It had been a difficult task, but with all the shinobi focused on the war, the civilian council had managed to pull it off right under their noses. And now, it was as if they only used their power to try and belittle the shinobi, and to make Naruto suffer.

"And the shinobi council? What's their stance on the issue?" Kakashi asked for him and Iruka. Hiruzen didn't look much different when that question was asked. The shinobi council as it was today was only a formality, positions of power given to were the heads of shinobi families who had at one point been recognized by the village for performing acts of great heroism. Technically, Kakashi was supposed to be at the meeting, being one of the members of the shinobi council, but had ditched in favor of staying with Naruto. Not like he hadn't ditched before.

There was little accomplished by the shinobi council, especially in these times of peace but contention. But the shinobi council still holds some sway, and by law the civilian council could not make policies or assign punishments that concern shinobi. Unfortunately for Naruto, he was not yet an official shinobi.

"The majority of the shinobi council believes that we should wait until there's more evidence on the issue. But ultimately, they can't do anything. I've managed to delay the final vote, but there's going to be more meetings for the next couple of days, and if nothing turns up, the civilian council will call for his execution." Hiruzen Sarutobi said to the two of them, providing the smallest amount of relief. They had at least a couple of days to sort out how to protect Naruto. Iruka kept looking at the young boy, still in a state of sleep as his scarred chest rose up and down.

Iruka knew that he was by no means one of the strongest shinobi in the village. He had managed to reach chuunin after three years being a genin, and had been glad to stay at that rank. He gladly took a job at the academy when it was offered to him, and loved everyday of teaching, even if the students were loud and didn't like to listen to his most brilliant lessons, if he said so himself. Iruka was well rounded in most of the shinobi arts, his only real specialty being traps, and having a lack of skill in kenjutsu.

But Iruka swore, to every god that had existed, existed now, or would ever exist, that he would do everything in his power, and in whatever power that he didn't have, to keep his little brother safe. He wouldn't let either of the councils touch a hair on Naruto, even if it meant betraying the village that he loved so much.

"What is there that we could do to help?" Kakashi asked as Iruka was lost in his thoughts, Kakashi's one uncovered eye looking intently at the leader of Konoha. Kakashi needed to believe that there was something he could do to help keep Naruto safe. He had to believe that there was a way he could prevent Naruto from turning into him.

"There is nothing we can do for Naruto right now, other than make sure that he's kept safe. Naruto probably shouldn't go to the academy for the time being, but that is ultimately a choice that Naruto needs to make for himself. He needs to feel at least somewhat comfortable and in control, because Kami knows that none of us are in complete control anymore.

"Kakashi, I want you to keep a constant eye on Naruto. I want Gai on this assignment with you. One of you take the day shift, one of you the night shift. I'll be assigned ANBU to look after all of you, but I want someone there with Naruto." Hiruzen said as he switched into Hokage mode, his face hardened like a rock as he gave Kakashi his new mission. His voice was stern, and as sharp as a kunai.

"Yes, Lord Hokage." Kakashi replied, as he looked again towards the young blond.

After a moment of silence, Kakashi saw small movement from Naruto, and soon, sounds were made from him. He sounded tired, as he started waking up from his long sleep. His eyes started blinking open, and he groaned he started lifting himself up with his arms. He rubbed his eyes once he was sat up, and opened them as he turned to the source of the sounds that had woken him up.

One bright lilac right eye, and one red left eye, with three small black tomoe circling the black pupil. Naruto looked a mess, with his disheveled hair even more crazy than usual, his half opened eyes, the scar over his left eye, and the two new scars traveling parallel down his chest, Naruto had looked like he had just gotten back from a war. He might as well have.

"Naruto, are you okay!?" Kakashi and Iruka yelled simultaneously as they stood up and rushed over to Naruto, while Hiruzen walked to the hallway and yelled for a doctor to come in and check on Naruto. When he walked back in, Kakashi and Iruka were looking over Naruto like worried mother, with Iruka feeling Naruto's forehead while Kakashi was checking Naruto's body one more time for lasting wounds or internal bleeding. Naruto wasn't responding to anything the two of them did, while he just looked at Hiruzen. They caught each others eyes, and somehow Hiruzen knew exactly what Naruto was silently asking.

Hiruzen looked at Naruto, staring directly into the red and lilac eyes as he sadly shook his head side to side. Lord Hokage watched as Naruto's face become even more empty than what it already was. His expression was blank, but soon enough, two streams of tears made their way down his face. Kakashi and Iruka stopped what they were doing when they saw that, and soon again, the room became silent.

"Alright, we think we've figured out what happened to Naruto earlier, but we're still going to have to do some checking up." Doctor Haruno said as he casually strolled into the silent room, completely ignoring the somber mood of the room. His long silky pink hair was tied into a loose ponytail similar to that of one Uchiha clan heir. He wore large circular glasses on top of his rather handsome face, and complete his outfit with black slacks and a blue collared shirt, with a black tie and lab coat over himself. Naruto looked up to him from his bed, wiping the tears off his face before Doctor Haruno could see them. Doctor Haruno had treated Naruto quite a few times when Naruto was still living on the street, and had been the doctor to help Naruto with the rehabilitation of his new arm. He was a man that Naruto got along with well, and respected quite a bit. If only his daughter and wife were a little more like him.

"Wh-What do you mean something happened to me? I don't remember anything." Naruto asked in confusion, doing his best to hide his obvious sadness. Doctor Haruno looked at Naruto for a second, before dismissing whatever it was that he was thinking about

"Well of course you wouldn't remember it, you were asleep when it happened. But two hours ago, you experienced something similar to a seizure, but there was no cause for it. We've come up with one theory, but it still needs to be checked out. Now Naruto, can you tell me if anything looks different to you right now?"

Naruto looked the tiniest bit surprised at the question, but looked around the room anyways. "No Doctor Haruno, nothing looks out of the ordinary."

Kakashi looked shocked at that, thinking about his own sharingan. Anytime he had it opened, he could see chakra outlines, and memorized everything he saw, and would even unintentionally predict the movements that people would make. Of course in a battle situation, or when he was more focused, it was much more intense. But Naruto should definitely be noticing the difference that the sharingan makes.

"Alright, this seems to be confirming our theory. Now Naruto, I want you to channel chakra into your left eye." Naruto once again looked confused, but his face soon showed understanding. He concentrated for a moment, and in only a second could notice the very big difference that the sharingan made.

The sharingan that used to belong to his older brother.

"Yea… I can see the difference now. Everything seems clearer, and I can notice even the smallest details. There's this blueish outline around you guys… I guess that's chakra." Naruto explained to them, his voice somber as he looked back down. Kakashi was shocked at what this meant.

"Just as we thought. Well Naruto, you have once again achieved the impossible. It seems that the episode you had in your sleep was simply the sharingan fully integrating itself into your body. It works just like a regular sharingan, that can be activated and deactivated at will, and uses a minimal amount of chakra, as opposed to it being activated all the time and taking immense amounts of chakra. The only mystery left is how it happened." Doctor Haruno said to all of them, taking in their surprised expressions.

"Doctor," Kakashi said as he moved closer to the pink haired man, "how do you think Naruto's sharingan was able to adjust to Naruto's body like that. It should be impossible." The question made the doctor look towards the ten year old child.

"It's the kyuubi." Naruto said, shocking everyone else in the room. Itachi had not mentioned that Naruto knew about the demon spirit inside of him. "The kyuubi is part of why I heal so quickly. And why I never have scars. It must have done something similar to the sharingan."

"Well actually, one of those things is incorrect Naruto. You might want to look into the mirror." Iruka told Naruto, prompting the young blond to slide out of bed and walk over to the standing mirror placed by the window. When he looked into the mirror, Naruto was shocked, and spent the next couple of seconds feeling the places where his scars were. And lastly, Naruto looked straight into his eyes, and looked at the gift that his brother had decided to give him in his last moments.

A moment later, and the mask that Naruto was trying to wear in front of them started breaking. Once again, tears started filling Naruto's eyes, and the straight face he had bagan to scrunch up as he tried to keep the tears in. It was of no use, and soon enough there was a waterfall of tears sliding down his face. Out of nowhere, Naruto threw his wooden fist at the mirror, the arm going through the mirror completely, before he took it out and punched it again, shocking the other people in the room.

"Naruto, what are you doing!?" they all screamed, as Iruka and Kakashi once again rushed to Naruto's side to prevent him from futher destroying the mirror that one of them would surely have to replace for the hospital.

"He left me!" Naruto screamed while he was being dragged away, further surprising everyone. "He left me alone! He promised that he wouldn't, and then went off and got himself killed! He promised me that he would take care of me, and train me, and that he would never hurt me! He promised that when we first met, and look where it got him!"

Naruto was pulled back towards his bed, fighting the two older men the entire way, looking for something to break, something to project his feelings onto. His sharingan started spinning faster and faster, until it morphed into the same oddly shaped shuriken like design that had once belonged to Shisui.

Without notice, Kakashi started to feel strange, like his mind was being looked into. He felt tired, out of breath, and had to release his hold on Naruto to attempt breathing. "Kakashi, is everything alright?" Lord Hokage asked the silver haired man as said man wiped his hand against his now sweating forehead.

"I don't know, Lord Hokage, I think I might be coming down with something." he said as he found a chair to sit down in. Iruka placed Naruto on the bed, and once he had, Naruto too started sweating. He looked very uncomfortable.

"GaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he started screaming, the obvious and extreme pain he was feeling being heard in how hoarse and loud the scream was. He held his head with his hands, and in only a second, his left eye once again started letting out a tiny stream of blood. The four pointed design of his sharingan was spinning faster than it had before, and was only increasing in speed. Finally it slowed down, only to a new design. _A three bladed, scythe like pinwheel._

' _Obito!?'_

Kakashi looked at the scene in horror, as he looked at the pattern of his mangekyou sharingan. The one that resided in his own sharingan. He wondered how Naruto had gotten it, why the process affected him, why Naruto was in such pain while it happened. But what made him freeze was looking at Naruto. With the sharingan in his left eye, scar running over it, screaming in pain as blood poured down from his left eye. Only Kakashi wasn't seeing Naruto, or even himself. Through his eye, he was looking at his childhood friend, Obito.

As Naruto was screaming in pain, Kakashi looked over to where Naruto was still looking, and noticed something odd. The pieces of mirror that Naruto had broken started to move, by themselves. And as he continued to look at them, he noticed something forming in the center of those pieces, and soon enough it expanded and started taking the pieces of mirror into them, as if it were a black hole. Ten or twenty seconds later, Kakashi couldn't tell through his shock, and the pieces of mirror, along with a piece of the tile floor, had completely disappeared.

Kakashi was horrified at what he saw. There was no explanation as to why Naruto had the Kamui. As far as he had been informed, Shisui only possessed the kotoamatsukami. It was possible that maybe Shisui had inherited the ability like Obito, perhaps being related caused some similarities in mangekyou abilities. Either way, there was no explanation for why Naruto's eye had changed from the design that Shisui originally had, to the one that Kakashi had in his own eye.

Finally, Naruto's screaming started to die down, and his struggling stopped. Everyone in the room was staring at where the mirror had just disappeared. Naruto looked horrified at what he had just done. As they turned back to Naruto, they then saw the second strangest thing they would see that day. Before their very eyes, Naruto's sharingan turned from the three bladed pinwheel back to the four pointed shuriken, to the three tomoe. And when they had expected it to be all done, the sharingan disappeared, leaving only the memorizing red color in his left eye.

"Kakashi," Hiruzen Sarutobi started saying, his surprise and worry very evident in his voice, "get Itachi here. Now."

 *****WITH ITACHI*****

Itachi sat on the front steps of the clan head home, waiting for his father to return home. As soon as he had heard that the council was out, he had rushed home to be able to intercept his father before Fugaku found some sort of work to bury himself in. Itachi did have to make a stop at the Ichiraku's before he went home.

Ayame had already been in the process of getting ready for her date with Shisui when Itachi stopped by. She had even had a friend over to help her with her hair. Teuchi was happily making ramen in the shop, smiling as always, offering Itachi a bowl when he walked in. Teuchi already knew what it was the second he looked at Itachi's grief stricken face. Itachi had to walk into the back of the shop, and confront the insanely giddy Ayame about the news. Itachi didn't stay long after to console her on the loss. He never wanted to see someone as sad as her ever again. It was too much for him to bear.

Itachi saw his father walking towards the house, moving at a slow, leisurely pace, as was expected of the clan head of the most respected and powerful clan in Konoha. His face was stern and serious, and though he walked slowly, it was with purpose and grace.

"Father, may I speak with you?" Itachi asked once his father had reached the steps that Itachi was so diligently standing by. Fugaku Uchiha glanced at his eldest son, already having an idea of what it was that Itachi wished to discuss. He gave a small, non verbal nod, and continued walking along the outside halls of the house, prompting Itachi to follow him.

"Father, I was wondering what the councils were discussing that prompted an emergency meeting. It doesn't seem like the council to do such a thing. And then… there is the event of Shisui's suicide that we must discuss."

"Do not play dumb with me, boy." Fugaku replied, slightly shocking Itachi with his bluntness. "I know perfectly well that you know what we were discussing. The jinchuriki. The council has not made a decision concerning his punishment, though Sarutobi is only delaying the inevitable. The civilian council will demand that Uzumaki be executed."

Itachi was silent for a moment after that. It was not entirely unexpected that the civilian council would push the death penalty for Naruto, but Itachi had hoped that there was some good news. "And what of your decision for Naruto? Concerning Shisui's last request?"

Fugaku took a deep breath at that. Shisui's last request, as was written in his suicide note, was that Naruto be recognized as an official Uchiha, which he claimed was the purpose of giving the Uzumaki his sharingan. This was quite the demand. Not only would Naruto officially have the Uchiha name, instead of him and Shisui just adding it on there so that Naruto could feel like he belonged, but he would be able to pass that name on. It would start a whole new branch of the Uchiha, one that didn't have any blood connection to the Uchiha.

"Naruto Uzumaki's status will not be changed. We cannot afford to deal with all the issues that would present themselves if Naruto were to be made Uchiha. I have no doubt that Uzumaki will receive quite a lot from Shisui in the will, and he will be allowed to keep whatever those are. But Naruto Uzumaki will be forced to relocate outside of the Uchiha compound, and he will have to surrender the sharingan that Shisui gifted him."

Itachi stopped walking when he heard the statement, causing his father to stop as well, and look at his oldest son sternly. Itachi clenched his hand, a very strong fist being formed, shaking from an anger that Itachi had never felt before. "May I ask for your reasoning, _Father?_ " Itachi growled out, having trouble controlling his emotions for perhaps the first time in his life.

"... There is no point in making such troublesome changes for someone doomed to die."

There was nothing for a moment, complete silence between the Uchiha clan head and his heir. _"I'm going to regret this later."_ Itachi briefly thought before he did the most rebellious and outrageous thing he had ever done.

He punched his father right in the face.

Fugaku flew back and hit the wall of his home, and slid down into a sitting position on the floor of the outdoor hallway. His nose felt broken, and was bleeding like a faucet, staining his expensive and high end clothing. He had never been in such a humiliating position before, and to be put into it by his own son raised that humiliation to new heights. He was about to get up and hit his son right back, show him what happened when you disrespected the clan head of the Uchiha. But when he looked up, he stopped.

Looking down at him was Itachi, looking like one of the oni that he had been told of as a child to frighten him into behaving. Fugaku had never seen Itachi make even the slightest angry expression, and now he was being frozen by it. Fugaku had always known that Itachi was a skilled and powerful shinobi, he prided himself on it. It was important to the clan that the heir be strong, and there was no one stronger than Itachi.

Fugaku was just learning that that statement also applied to him.

"You _will_ make Naruto an official Uchiha. He will be allowed all the rights and privileges that come with the title. He will be entitled to live in the compound, have access to Uchiha clan jutsu, and will be able to pass onto the name to his descendants should he choose to. _And he will be keeping his sharingan._ "

Fugaku knew that he should be standing up to Itachi, his own son, and telling him to respect his father, just as he had respected his. But the darkness and fury in his son's face left him with nothing else to do other than to slowly nod at his sons demands, however extreme they were.

"Good. And make sure that you keep this in mind. If this is not done immediately, _I will make sure that every single Uchiha knows of the mistake._ " Itachi said. Only seconds after he had said it, Kakashi had landed right next to Itachi. He took a glance at the situation he landed in, before whispering something into Itachi's ear and running back in the direction he had come from. Itachi was about to make his move as well, when Fugaku finally gathered up enough anger, and more importantly, courage, to get up off of the ground and speak his mind.

"Step out of line again, and the title of heir goes to Sasuke! I will not have my own son making such demands to me! You have yet to realize my strength, and I am not above putting you in your rightful place!" he shouted at his son, who stopped in his place. Itachi slowly turned around to face his father, the same anger in his face, now complete with the three black tomoe of his all powerful red sharingan.

"I realized your strength a long time ago, _Father_." he said with a growl, the sharingan spinning in his eye. Finally, it had morphed into his three bladed pinwheel, and Fugaku felt his breath stop. "And I've surpassed it."

 *****THE NEXT DAY*****

Naruto walked back into his and Shisui's house, Kakashi by his side as he did so. Ever since the mystery of Naruto's strange sharingan yesterday, Kakashi had taken to not leaving his side, for almost any reason other than to let Naruto use the bathroom. Kakashi had already revealed that while he was on assignment from the Hokage to do so, he would be doing so anyways, but Naruto didn't know if that made it better or worse. It didn't matter anyways, Naruto hadn't felt much since his outburst at the hospital the previous day. Or rather, Naruto hadn't been showing a lot of emotion.

Naruto kept up with his not showing emotions, but as soon as he stepped back into the house, he started to feel everything, all at once. All the reminders of Shisui were still there, from his spare sandals at the entrance of the house, to the various photos of them all over the house. Naruto and Kakashi walked further into the house, and Naruto could see a pile of clothes just outside of their fairly new dryer. It looked like Shisui had forgotten to fold the laundry. He was always terrible at household chores.

"Alright Naruto, you just stay here. I'll run out and get us something to eat. I'll be back as soon as I can." Kakashi said as he dropped Naruto off. He knew that Naruto probably wouldn't function the best in the village in his current state, and so would he would have to leave Naruto by his lonesome. As he walked out of the house, he discreetly signalled to Gai, who was keeping an extra eye on the two of them, to keep watch on Naruto. He saw Gai give an exaggerated thumbs up, very much something that Gai would do. Nevertheless, Kakashi started running towards the village market in search for food.

Meanwhile, Naruto had gotten to work on folding the laundry that Shisui had forgotten. Many of the clothes belonged to Naruto, but there was still a fair amount of Shisui's clothes there. Naruto knew that it was pointless, but he carefully folded them, organizing all of the clothes by category, and then took them to the dead man's room and put them in their proper drawers. He went down to the kitchen, took the trash outside to their garbage can, which would be collected by the village the next day and cleanly disposed of. Then there was the dishes to wash. He and Shisui hadn't gotten around to buying one of those fancy new dishwashers, so Naruto had to resort to cleaning them by hand. There were only a few, so it wasn't as irritating as it usually was. Naruto noticed a lot of black stained onto their kettle, and guessed that Shisui had set it aflame. It had happened before, so it wasn't too difficult to comprehend.

When Kakashi returned, it was to the sight of Naruto sweeping the kitchen floor. His face held no emotion, and he could already see that there were many other chores that Naruto had completed. Kakashi had expected something like this to happen. Many victims of grief often found a way to focus on something else, a way to deal with the pain, and usually would get sucked into it. For shinobi, it was usually an unhealthy amount of training, often accompanied with substance abuse. Kakashi himself had drowned himself in his ANBU work, and would then later drown himself in sake during the losses of his team and sensei.

"Naruto, I'm back. And I've brought pizza." Kakashi said to the distracted child as he walked over to the low table, setting the two boxes down. There was no reaction from Naruto. Kakashi looked over to Naruto, his worried expression hidden by his mask and hitai-ate. "Naruto, I brought us some food. Come on." There was still no sign from the blond that he had heard the silver haired man.

Kakashi walked over to where Naruto was still sweeping, and looked over him. Kakashi reached out a hand to tap him on the shoulder, worried about what Naruto was so lost in thought over. Just before his hand could reach Naruto's shoulder, the younger child spun around quicker than Kakashi had ever seen him move, and swung the broomstick towards the experienced shinobi.

Kakashi, though surprised by Naruto's action, was a heavily trained and experienced shinobi, and his body had no problem moving on instinct. Kakashi jumped back before the broom could hit him, only for Naruto to throw it at him like a spear, which Kakashi caught. Naruto ran towards Kakashi and began throwing a series of punches and kicks at the older man, his face contorted in an expression of pure anger and intent to kill, his lilac and ruby eyes seemingly in a blaze of fury.

"Naruto, calm down! It's just me, it's Kakashi!" Kakashi screamed at the raging child, leaning back to avoid a jumping kick to his face. Naruto continued coming at Kakashi, missing time and time again as Kakashi continued to maneuver out of Naruto's path of destruction. Kakashi made an effort to make sure that nothing broke or got damaged in Naruto's rampage.

"Naruto, that's enough! It's just me, you're safe with me!" Kakashi shouted again, only for Naruto to let out a feral scream at him. Kakashi was worried that Naruto might be tapping into the Kyuubi's power in his distraught state, but Naruto was showing no signs of using the horrible gift of the Jinchuuriki. It seemed that this attack wasn't being made by the demon. And Kakashi didn't see any sign of the sharingan being used. His magnificent red eye bore no tomoe.

The attack was going on for too long, and Kakashi knew that Naruto needed to calm down, or this rage would go all night. Kakashi began thinking of what he could do to calm Naruto down, when an idea sprung into his head. It was a long shot, but maybe, _just maybe,_ this sacrifice on Kakashi's part would stop the attack that seemed to go on forever.

Kakashi jumped back a long ways, to the other side of the living room, in order to give himself some more time and space. As Naruto began running back towards the older man, Kakashi did something that he had never done for anyone else, and would probably never do for anyone else.

Kakashi brought his hands up, and took off his Konoha hitai-ate, and ripped off his face mask, revealing to Naruto his uncovered face. It was beautifully sculptured, seemingly chiseled out of marble. His left eye holding the sharingan seemed so out of place against his other black eye, and his silver hair. And on the left side of his chin, he bore a small beauty mark.

Naruto stopped his running, and Kakashi knew that he was on the right track. It was most likely that Naruto was still traumatized by the attack that had happened just two nights ago, and was lashing out at anything that look dangerous. If Naruto were to see that Kakashi was making himself vulnerable, and that he wasn't a threat, then hopefully he would calm down. Naruto's face still seemed confused and angry, but his expression was slowly softening, and tears were building up in his eyes. Kakashi quickly threw off his vest, and ripped off his kunai and shuriken pouches, tossing them away from him. He was left in nothing but his blue pants and shirt.

"It's okay Naruto, it's just me. It's Kakashi. I am not an enemy. I will never hurt you, okay?" Kakashi said to Naruto, and Kakashi could see the tears falling from his eyes. Kakashi was feeling a bit of the drain from having his sharingan exposed, but he didn't care. Naruto needed to see that Kakashi was not a threat, and if he was tired for a couple days because of that, then it was a sacrifice he'd make many times.

Finally, Naruto broke down, falling down to his knees and he let out all his tears again. Kakashi sighed, and slowly walked over to the broken child. Kakashi knew that Naruto and Shisui were about as close as any two brothers could be, but Kakashi was just beginning to understand how much that was to the two of them. The only time that Kakashi could even think he had come this close to Naruto's level of despair was when he had lost Obito, and Kakashi could clearly see that Naruto had moved way beyond that.

Kakashi sat next to Naruto, and listened to the child cry his heart out. Kakashi knew that Naruto would feel threatened again if Kakashi tried to hug him, or put his arm around his shoulder for comfort. But Kakashi would be here for Naruto when he needed him. He would say by his side, listening to him cry, until Naruto felt comfortable. No matter how long that took.

 *****LATER THAT DAY*****

Naruto was sitting in the living room by himself, having sent Kakashi to bed just a few moments earlier. Kakashi kept stating that he didn't need to go home, but Naruto insisted that he go and get some rest. Naruto had told the silver haired jounin that he would be perfectly safe with Gai watching over him, and that Kakashi should take some time to relax. And though Kakashi had been convinced that he could use some rest after having been up for almost two days, he refused to rest anywhere further than the guest room.

Naruto was sat on the floor, with the scroll for the rasengan technique to the right of him, and a water balloon in his left hand. Naruto had spent the last couple of days working on the rasengan, whenever he wasn't in the academy or hanging out with Mabui that is. The old man had given him the scroll to him for his birthday, and it had been frustrating Naruto ever since. For as long as Naruto had been practicing ninjutsu, he had extreme trouble molding chakra to perform the proper techniques. And strangely enough, it had only gotten worse with the addition of his new, wooden arm.

According to the Hokage, and Kakashi confirmed it for him, the rasengan was the highest form of chakra shape transformation. Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have the idea that if Naruto could master the rasengan, that it would help him get over his ninjutsu problem. Though Naruto was confused how learning only one aspect of ninjutsu was going to help. He suspected that there was another reason why the old man had insisted on giving him the S-rank technique, which Naruto also thought was irresponsible. Nonetheless, Naruto had been trying his hardest to perfect the technique, but had not even gotten past the first stage of it.

Unlike the more traditional chakra control exercises, the rasengan required the user to move their chakra in multiple directions at the same time, while moving it at a very high and powerful speed. This was the ultimate goal of the first step of the rasengan, to learn how to move chakra in the necessary direction and speed to pop the water balloon. Naruto was lucky that he already had such dense and powerful chakra, not to mention having chakra for days. But the movement of it was confusing to him. The scroll said that it would feel weird to do, because the body naturally spins its chakra a certain direction. Naruto's chakra moved to the left, which was apparently uncommon, and trying to get his chakra to move in different directions was very frustrating for him.

As Naruto continued to try and pop the water balloon, he heard a set of knocks on the door that distracted him from his training. Naruto set down his water balloon on the table and got himself up, walking over to the door. Naruto opened the door, only to be surprised when it was his classmate, Hinata, that was at the door. Hinata made a small jump, accompanied by one of her famous "Eep" sounds that she always seemed to make whenever he saw her.

"Oh, hey." Naruto said simply to her, too tired and devastated to bother trying to be polite. He couldn't feel anything from her visit, so why bother pretending?

Hinata didn't respond, instead looking wide eyed at Naruto's face. She looked afraid, and when Naruto brought his hand up to see what was on his face that she could be staring at, he remembered. His new eye, the red one that could not be explained, and the equally impossible scar running over it. At the very least, at least Shisui's sharingan had fully adapted to his body, or else he'd probably be getting a much more frightened look from the Hyuuga heiress than he was now.

"Is there something you need, Hinata?" he said to her, starting to get irritated at the silent staring she was doing. Naruto was not usually one to get angry at many people, at least not since he lived with Shisui. But Naruto's emotions were being more crazy than he could explain. Hinata jumped again when Naruto said that, and then looked down at her shuffling feet while her two index fingers found their way to tapping against each other.

"I a-apologive, N-N-Naruto. I was j-just surprised to s-see… I was wor-r-ried about y-y-you. You h-haven't b-b-been to the academy for the past two d-days, and there a-are l-l-lots of rumors about you." Hinata said to the blond boy.

"Well, thanks, I guess." Naruto said in response to her statements. Naruto didn't know what to make of them, as he had not much experience with people of his own age showing care or concern for him. The closest he had was Mabui, whom he had only known for less than a week. Though Hinata did seem to show some care, as she had gifted him the red scarf the same day he had met the Kumo girl. But he was still unfamiliar as to how he was expected to proceed.

"Do you… want to come inside?" the young boy said, knowing that it was always polite to invite people who visit inside your home. Immediately after the question was asked, Hinata turned a bright shade of red, as she always seemed to whenever Naruto talked to her. Apparently unable to speak, she nodded her head to answer him, to which Naruto stepped aside to allow her in. Hinata took off her sandals, mumbling a small thank you to him before the two of them walked into the house.

"Just inside there is the living room. Make yourself comfortable, I'll bring us some tea." Naruto said to his visitor, to which she once again nodded silently as he walked towards the kitchen. Unknown to Naruto, Hinata was currently having another fearful mental episode with herself. She sat herself on the nearest couch, which she found was a brilliant thing to have in a home.

The Hyuuga were very traditional, and so couches were out of the question. Hinata knew, from her limited interactions with them, that the Uchiha had a very similar appreciation for the more traditional way of living, but it looked as if Naruto and Shisui didn't mind that part of the Uchiha, opting for comfort instead. As Hinata looked around the living room, extremely aware that she was in _Naruto's house…_ She could see many other signs of personality in their home. Hinata glanced at the dozens of photos that lined the walls and countertops, and felt sadness that her own home contained none. Hinata also noticed a scroll laid out on the floor, and a blue water balloon on the table, but didn't want to pry.

Within a few minutes, Naruto came walking out of the kitchen, a tray in his hands with a full teapot and two cups, all rather simple in design, a plain white. Naruto set the tray down on the coffee table in front of Hinata, and gracefully poured the green tea into the cup closest to her. He poured himself after, and then set the pot on the table. Hinata thanked Naruto quietly and brought the cup up to her lips to take a small sip. Hinata noticed that Naruto did not do the same.

The two sat in silence again, Hinata tapping her fingers in her signature nervous tick. Hinata could tell that something was wrong. Naruto was the epitome of happiness and confidence, but seeing him now, silent and aloof, clearly saddened by something, was breaking Hinata's heart. Something clearly terrible had happened to Naruto, if the new eye color, which Hinata also noted looked so unique and beautiful and Naruto, and the scar running over it was anything to go by. But Hinata didn't know what she could do to help him. Either way, she had to say something to her Naruto.

"S-So N-Naruto, I heard t-that L-L-Lord F-Fugaku gave you official U-Uchiha status. I w-was pleased t-to h-h-hear that." Hinata said to Naruto, mentally berating herself when she noticed that she hadn't yet stopped herself from tapping her two fingers together. As she looked towards Naruto, he had an eyebrow raised, but there was no other sign of emotion.

"Oh, that is a surprise. Thank you for telling me, Hinata." Naruto said, which only caused confusion in Hinata. Did Naruto really not know that he was an official Uchiha before she had just told him? Usually, Naruto would be excited beyond belief. She knew from her… studies, of Naruto that his dream was to become an official member, and bring honor and glory to the Uchiha name. So why was he so upset now?

"Hinata, why are you being so kind to me?" Naruto suddenly asked the dark haired girl, easily catching her off guard. "There is no reason for you to be acting this way towards me. We're not friends, you don't really know me. But you wish me a happy birthday, make me a scarf, and now here you are. Coming to check on me, when we barely even know each other.

"What is it you're expecting from me?" Naruto continued, his voice slightly breaking and water filling his eyes. Hinata looked towards Naruto with extreme sadness, not knowing what to say to him. How was she supposed to tell him that she really did care about him, and that he was foolish for thinking that she wouldn't. She couldn't blame him though, not in the slightest. Naruto had no friends his own age, as all the people he associated with were Jonin, or the Ichiraku family. She had noticed that in the past year, many of the Uchiha clan were finally warming up to him, but in all her… study sessions, of Naruto, she never got the impression that they were truly sincere in their kindness.

Naruto didn't know how to act around those his own age, even though he longed for their attention to be directed at him in a positive way. And up until _that girl, Mabui,_ had come along, there was no other child that he could call his friend. But Hinata would show him differently. She would show him that she could be his friend. There wasn't a need for her to tell him the full extent of her feelings, that wasn't what he needed right now. What he needed, was a friend.

"Because I look up to you, N-Naruto." Hinata said, her voice calmer, determined not to stutter like she was always did. "You've always been my idol, even before you became an Uchiha. You have a strength and courage that I have never seen with anyone else, and one that I can only dream of having. You inspire me to become stronger."

Naruto looked at the girl in front of him, the tears that had been building up in his eyes for moments now falling as his eyes widened at her testimony. Naruto didn't know what to say to that. Here he was, being the most pathetic he had been all his life, having broken down once today already, and here he was, about to do it again in front of a girl he barely even knew. But this entire time, she had been looking up to him, thinking he was strong, even when he was the lowest in the class.

Quickly, Naruto began breaking even more, and in the span of only a few seconds, tears were falling down his face like a rainstorm, and his breathing had turned to hard sobs. Naruto lost sense of what was around him, but soon felt Hinata move over to the couch he was on. Hinata hesitated, but soon she reached out and pulled the taller boy into a very awkward hug.

"It's okay Naruto." Hinata said to Naruto, hoping that he was able to truly hear her words. "Sometimes, strength is letting yourself feel what you don't want to."

"He's gone." Naruto said to her in between his sobs, his tears wetting the shoulder of her new beige hoodie. "Shisui's dead. And there was nothing I can do. He can't come back. What am I supposed to do without Shisui."

Hinata gave a gasp, and knew why Naruto was the way he was. Shisui meant everything to Naruto. Shisui was everything Naruto strived to be. Of course he was heartbroken. And even still, after only what Hinata could guess were mere days after Shisui's death, Naruto was trying to be strong, and not let Shisui's death bother him. But Hinata knew that that would only cause Naruto more damage than good.

"Then cry Naruto." she said to him, saying it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Cry for him. Because that's what shinobi do. They endure. But that does not mean that we stop to feel. I believe, that to endure is to feel the pain and hatred of the world, and carry it with us, to help us create a better world. That is what only a true shinobi can do. And I know that you can do it as well, Naruto."

Naruto continued to cry into Hinata's shoulder, his arms wrapped around her as she comforted him. Hinata held Naruto, and for the first time, she was nervous or worried. She wasn't thinking about her feelings for him, or what he would think of her. Right now, he just needed a friend. And she would be that if that was what Naruto wanted.

 *****AUTHORS NOTE*****

Once again, I would just like to thank all of you who stick to reading this story, despite the long gaps that it takes for me to actually post the next chapter. Comments and reviews are always appreciated, as I want to make the experience enjoyable to the large majority of us. And in doing so, there is a question that must be asked.

I have mentioned before that I intend Naruto to gain a Rinnegan later on in the story. I assure you all that this is much, much later in the story, and that I understand that Naruto does not just automatically get a Rinnegan because he now has the Sharingan. If he were to get it from a Sharingan, it would have to be either Sasuke's or Madara's eye, because of the whole reincarnation business. Anyways, not important.

What is more important is that there have been quite a few comments with the idea that Naruto should not get the Rinnegan at all. I'll admit, this is not something that had occurred to me when coming up with this story. It was always just, if he gets the Sharingan, I should also give him the Rinnegan. But this is actually an interesting idea. Of course, if most of the people reading this want Naruto to have the Rinnegan, I am more than happy to continue that. So, question of the day is, what do you think? Should Naruto get the Rinnegan or not. Please leave a review with your opinion, and if you feel up to it, explain just make it easy on yourself and type yes or no, whatever you want to do.

Now other things. I hope you are all enjoying the story. I realize that there are lots of changes I am making, but I like to think that that is part of the joy of writing this. Not to make the Naruto universe better, because I absolutely love Naruto the way it is. But just to make it different. And before people get confused as to why I'm making Hinata a bigger character, and adding these moments between her and Naruto, it does have a purpose. This story is 100% going to be Naruto/Mabui, but Hinata is to play a big role in this story. If you can just bear with me, you'll see it soon enough.

Thank you once again, and I'll hopefully have the next chapter up sooner than it took for me to get this up. Anyways, later.

 **NEXT TIME ON "THE KUMO SHARINGAN"...**

 **CHAPTER 6: ESCAPE FROM KONOHA**


	6. Authors Note

**Authors Note**

So this is an announcement that I am abandoning this story in favor of rewriting it. I am sure that it has not gone unnoticed that it has been many months since I have updated this story, and a very large part of that is because I have put myself in a place where I now don't know how I want to take the story with the way that I have written it so far, and the more I keep rereading my own story to try and make sense of how I should proceed, I find more and more little things that I would like to change with the story.

The rewrite, which will simply be known as The Kumo Sharingan: Rewrite, is already being written, but I wanted to let the readers know just in case there were any recommendations on things that you would like to see or would like changed for this rewrite. Any thoughts are appreciated, and I will do my best to make sure that this rewrite is as good as it can be for both myself and you beloved readers. Any thoughts can be put onto the review page of this story, or you can PM me. Thank you all so much for reading this story, and for those who have followed either the story or myself up to this point, and I sincerely hope that I can keep satisfying your fanfiction needs with this rewrite.


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